Winter 2025 K League 1 Transfer Trends: Win-Now, Generational Shifts, Rough Diamonds | OneFootball

While all K League clubs will be looking to strengthen during the 2025 winter transfer window, some appear to be adhering to certain themes when bringing in new players. From the win-now mindsets of FC Seoul and Daejeon Hana Citizen to the generational shift of Ulsan HD, K League United takes a look at some of the key business in the transfer window so far.

Win-Now

FC Seoul have brought in Kim Jin-su and Moon Seon-min from Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, both 32, with the mindset of recruiting proven players who can produce the goods now. Kim and Moon have won multiple K League 1 titles with Jeonbuk and know what it takes to get over the line. Jeong Seung-won, 27, is another major recruit with Seoul winning the race to sign a player who had a career year in 2024, scoring 11 and assisting six. All three will slot straight in and improve the first eleven as Seoul look to win a first K League 1 title since 2016.

Daejeon's 'win-now' approach is perhaps more obvious having signed Joo Min-kyu from Ulsan. Joo turns 35 in April and is a player the Purples will probably get two years out of as they look to make the step up into a time that challenges for the top six and beyond. Joo was seen as underperformed last year but still bagged 10 league goals in 33 appearances with five assists. He's joined by Ulsan teammate Lim Jong-eun, 34, once East Coast Derby rivals Jeong Jae-hee and Ha Chang-rae, both 30. Daejeon's aim has clearly been to bring in proven players who can help propel the club forward in the short term.

Generational Shift

Ulsan HD boss Kim Pan-gon has seemingly looked to bring in a core of players whom Ulsan can get a lot of years out of. So far, around 10 new first-team players have been signed with an average age of 25. Heo Yool (23), for example, is the replacement for Joo Min-kyu as a number-nine type, while Yoon Jong-gyu (26) is expected to be Ulsan's first-choice right back and Lee Jin-hyun (27) and Lee Hui-gyun (26) will add energy in midfield.

There have been around nine or 10 major outgoings from the Munsu between last season and the start of the 2025 campaign, and the average age of those players is 30. It's the right time to exercise this generational shift with some of Ulsan's so-called title rivals still too far away for the Horangi to be tamed.

Diamonds In The Rough

Gwangju FC: The signings of striker 29-year-old striker Park In-hyeok (ex-Daejeon, Jeonnam), 23-year-old left winger Kwon Sung-yun (ex-Seoul, Busan), and 24-year-old winger Park Jeong-in (ex-Ulsan, Seoul E-Land, Daejeon) highlight Gwangju's approach to the transfer window.

The club's financial restrictions, having been under a transfer embargo in the summer, will have dictated this but manager Lee Jung-hyo has shown before that he can polish up rough diamonds. The three signings mentioned above all arrive in Gwangju with their stocks probably as low as they've been in their careers but now have the chance to prove themselves. For Gwangju, it's relatively low-risk business. Reis has also returned to Gwangju having found regular playing time at Jeju hard to come by.

Park In-hyeok (centre) was in K4 last year but now has ACL football to look forward to

Suwon FC's business has been a mix of diamonds in the rough and players Kim Eun-jung knows has something about them having worked with them before for the Korea U23s and U20s, for example, defensive midfielder Jang Yun-ho (ex-Jeonbuk, Seoul E-Land, Gimpo), 25-year-old centre back Lee Ji-sol (ex-Daejeon, Jeju, Gangwon), and 21-year-old left back Hwang In-taek (ex-Suwon Bluewings). Jang was once part of a Jeonbuk side that won the league and ACL but his career has fallen into obscurity of late, while Lee hasn't played regularly since leaving Daejeon in 2021 mainly due to injuries.

Then there are the players who have come from K League 2, such as 27-year-old left back Seo Jae-min from Gimpo, 23-year-old left back Lee Taek-geun from Ansan Greeners, and 25-year-old right back Kim Jae-sung from Ansan Greeners. Suwon had also signed Noh Kyung-ho from Ansan in the summer.

Jang Yun-ho has worked with Suwon FC boss Kim Eun-jung with Korea U23s

Pohang Steelers have been the masters of this over the years with their 'moneyball' approach to transfers. This year, apart from a wave of rookies, Pohang's only senior recruits have been Kim Beom-soo, a 24-year-old right winger from Ansan Greeners, and Brazilian forward Juninho Rocha from Chungnam Asan. Clearly, Pohang have seen something in Kim who was in K4 just three years ago with Seoul Jungnang, while dipping into K League 2 for one of the league's best foreign players is a model Pohang fans will have been used to.