Swansea City will thank Celtic for £5.5m star – He helped give the Swans one of their greatest days | OneFootball

Swansea City brought in Ki Sung-yueng for a club record fee of £5.5 million from Celtic and he helped deliver the club's only major honour.

Back in the summer transfer window of 2012, Swansea City pulled off the signing of Ki Sung-yueng from Celtic, and he went on to establish himself as a key man for the Jacks, helping them produce some of, if not the most memorable moments in the club’s history.

The Gwangju-born midfielder had arrived in the United Kingdom a couple of years earlier and played two seasons for Celtic, having spent three years in the K League with FC Seoul.

Ki, who had helped the South Koreans win the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, was a rising star of Korean football for quite some time and had been instrumental for Celtic as they won the 2011/12 Scottish Premier League.

Swansea, who had enjoyed an impressive first season in the Premier League the year before with an 11th-placed finish before the departure of Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool, were rebuilding under Michael Laudrup, and they would go on to enjoy a magnificent season following Ki’s arrival.

Swansea’s only major trophy

Swansea had won ten Welsh Cups as well as two Football League trophies before Ki’s arrival in 2012, but the Jacks went on to win their first, and still only major honour, as they won the 2013 League Cup, thus qualifying for the UEFA Europa League. They battered Bradford City 5-0 at Wembley, thanks to a brace of goals from Nathan Dyer and Jonathan de Guzmán, as well as Michu's effort.

Ki, who had joined in the summer alongside the likes of Chico Flores, Michu and Pablo Hernandez, immediately thrived under Laudrup as they continued their so-called ‘Swansalona’ tradition that had begun under Roberto Martinez before being strengthened by Rodgers. Although a midfielder by trade, Ki was switched to centre-back in the League Cup final, playing just over an hour in the convincing win.

With a heavy Dutch and Spanish influence, led by the progressive and passing style of Laudrup, Ki was a fundamental part of a Swansea side that won their first ever trophy and, at just £5.5 million, represented something of a major bargain.

He went on to make 162 appearances for the club across a six-season spell, which also included him being loaned out in the 2013/14 season to Sunderland, where he was once again a key man as the Black Cats narrowly avoided relegation.

His best Swansea season perhaps came in the 2014/15 season, when he scored eight goals in 33 Premier League appearances as they achieved their highest ever top-flight finish of eighth, under the management of Garry Monk. He was named Swansea’s Player of the Season at the end of that campaign.

Ki’s career and return to Korea

Ki eventually departed South Wales on a permanent basis in 2018 and signed for Newcastle United, making 23 appearances for the Magpies before being shipped out to Real Mallorca in the winter transfer window of 2020 – but that stint in the Balearic Islands was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following his short spell in La Liga, Ki moved back to where his career began, FC Seoul, where he has gone on to make a further 142 appearances for the nicknamed ‘Dark Red Warriors’.

Whilst a bizarre stint, having been loaned out a year after joining, Ki still enjoyed major success at the club and really showed his presence and class for the club upon returning from his time on Wearside.

Ki, who, for a fee of around £5.5 million, became Swansea’s club-record transfer fee of around at the time of his arrival in August 2012, helped deliver one of the greatest moments in the club’s history and is someone who is remembered fondly at the Swansea.com Stadium.