Newcastle United face two La Liga sides in a weekend double header at St James’ Park.
The South Korean teenager was an unknown quantity when he joined from Suwon Bluewings last month, with many wondering if his arrival was a PR stunt ahead of the tour of Asia.
However, two excellent cameos against Team K-League and Tottenham Hotspur in his home city of Seoul have quelled those suggestions and presented the 18-year-old winger with more first-team opportunities.
Newcastle United new boy Park Seung-soo could make St James’ Park debut
Park has trained with Howe’s squad this week and is likely to be handed a place on the bench in both games. Newcastle host Espanyol on Friday (kick-off 7:30pm) before going up against Atletico Madrid on Saturday (kick-off 4pm).
"Part of us thought that (under-21s and loan) would be his journey but like with any player, we will always take it on merit,” Howe told ChronicleLive. "He has come into the group and he has really impressed in training as well as the games.
“He has done really well in his little cameos, he has taken on a lot of new information on. Credit to him he has done it all with a smile on his face. He has earned the right to stay with us. He will be involved with us at the weekend and then we will take it step by step.
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"He can (stand up for himself). That is the beauty of playing senior football like he has done at such a tender age.There was one ball that he chased, and he was not going to give it up easily. He is competitive, and he is getting stuck in.
"He is not a lightweight player. He is offering up something physically which you have to in the league we are playing in. Yeah I am very impressed by his early contributions."
Park Seung-soo eyeing Premier League debut ‘as soon as possible’
Park made 28 senior appearances for the K-League 2 side Suwon, registering one goal and three assists. He has also been capped five times for South Korea under-20s.
The plan remains for Park to be developed in-house by linking up with the under-21s squad, but the player has set his ambitions high by stating that he wants to make his Premier League ‘as soon as possible’.
Speaking in Korea, as relayed by @KNTFootball, Park said: “I thought it would be amazing to make my debut in Korea, and the manager gave me a great opportunity, so I was able to make a wonderful debut.
“When I joined the team, I really felt that the players were physically and athletically perfect. I realised I need to build more strength through additional weight training. I want to adapt to the team quickly and work hard so I can make my EPL debut as soon as possible.
“I don’t want to be the second someone else — I want to be the first Park Seung-soo. I want to become someone others want to emulate.”
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