Celtic attacker Hyunjun Yang has been speaking about his first few months in Scotland.
The 21-year-old winger joined us from South Korean side Gangwon in late July. Since then, he has gone on to play a bigger part than many may have expected — featuring in the majority of our matches under Brendan Rodgers.
Yang has started a fair few games on the left wing, including our recent UEFA Champions League loss to Lazio.
He reckons he didn’t show his best that night due to nerves, as he also spoke about some of the challenges he has faced making the move, both on and off the pitch.
“I don’t think there’s any [much] difficulty getting used to life in Scotland,” he told Celtic TV.
“But, if I had to pick one it would be the language. Since I’m not good at speaking English, there is a language barrier when I’m trying to communicate with other players on the team. Other than that, I have no problems.
“The speed of Scottish teams’ transition from attack to defence and vice versa is way quicker than Korean teams. Also, defenders here are a lot more physical.
“It was such an honour to play in the Champions League. It was a shame I couldn’t show all of my ability as I was feeling a bit nervous since it was such a big game.”
Some pretty honest reflection there from a guy so young. Yang admits that he was a bit overawed by the Lazio clash, given that it was his first start among Europe’s elite.
He also picked out his lack of grasp of the English language as a challenge. While that is a pretty obvious point to raise, it is clearly something that would be an impediment to success in a new land. It kind of shows how well the likes of Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi have done.
Those language comments and his admission of nerves are a timely reminder to us all that these guys are humans. While we all want Yang to be a superstar already, the reality is that it will take time for him to settle into his new surroundings, both in and away from football.
With Luis Palma on the rise, his game time may be cut a little over the coming months. That may be no bad thing long-term as he adjusts to his new life. We’re still expecting big things, just maybe not right now.
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