The South Korean youngster is adapting to the demands of life on Tyneside
Seung-Soo Park of Newcastle United
(Image: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
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Newcastle United are ‘quietly pleased’ with the progress made by Seung-soo Park - but there is a note of caution around the South Korean youngster.
With the summer transfer talk dominated by the departure of Alexander Isak and the Magpies attempts to replace their wantaway striker, the arrival of Park may have initially gone under the radar.
However, that all changed when the 18-year-old winger caught the eye on his debut as he came off the bench to impress for the Magpies first-team in a pre-season friendly defeat against a Team K-League side.
That was followed up by another lively performance as Eddie Howe handed the youngster his first start in a friendly draw with La Liga club Espanyol and there were some suggestions Seung-soo could spend the season in the senior setup.
After remaining as an unused substitute in a goalless draw with Aston Villa on the opening day of the season, the South Korea youth international has quietly settled into life on Tyneside as part of the Magpies Under-21s squad and has made steady, rather than spectacular, progress ever since.
A hamstring niggle threatened to disrupt his trajectory but Under-21s chief Adam Lawrence insists Seung-soo is getting to grips with the physicality of English football.
The Magpies Under-21s lead coach told Chronicle Live: “He was feeling his hamstring [against Benfica], which was a bit of a setback because we feel in the last two or three weeks he’s started to look fitter, able to last and we’ve been able to get a body of work into him with games and training.
“But he was feeling it a little bit so I didn’t think he has maybe been at the level of the last couple of games. On the whole, taking away [that], we feel he’s made some notable improvements since he has come in.
“Obviously it has been a big change for him and in the last couple of games he has impacted the games. We know it’s going to be a longer-term project but we have definitely seen enough of him in terms of his potential and the progress he has made in this period. We are quietly pleased with how he is progressing.”
Two underwhelming performances in defeats against Southampton and Chelsea showed caution was required as the youngster acclimatised to life in England and the demands placed upon him in a new style of football.
Progress arrived in the form of a promising performance in a National League Cup win against Boston United as Seung-Soo produced a fine piece of approach play to set up Sean Neave to convert one of his three goals that night.
A venture into European competition was made with with appearances in United’s UEFA Youth League campaign as Lawrence’s side have emerged without a point from games against Barcelona, Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica.
Further game-time came on Monday night as the former Suwon Bluewings winger played a part in a 2-0 win Premier League 2 rivals Crystal Palace as Lawrence’s side earned their first victory of their league campaign at the seventh attempt thanks to goals from Anthony Munda and Joe Brayson.
The Magpies Under-21s are back in action when they visit Ipswich Town in the second of two away games inside four days with Seung-soo hopeful of starring from the outset.
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