It was quite a comparison to import to a new club in a different continent but Kwon Hyeok-kyu didn’t hide from being mentioned alongside Rodri.
Manchester City’s Spanish midfielder has created a new standard for midfielders, raising the bar for Pep Guardiola’s side to finally deliver the Champions League thanks to his goal against Inter Milan in Istanbul.
When Rodri was scoring that goal Kwon was starting his English lessons in anticipation of a move with Oh Hyeon-gyu leading the way for Korean players at Celtic.
In January the Suwon Samsung striker arrived in Glasgow in mid-season as the only Korean at the club and expected to fill the boots of Giorgos Giakoumakis.
Oh delivered on that demand, helping Celtic win all three domestic trophies with Kwon comfortable taking on the challenge of being compared to one of the world’s most effective midfielders.
He told the Daily Mail:
I am very happy to hear these compliments, but I know that I still have a long way to go to become a player like Rodri.I think I can improve a lot at Celtic and one day I want to become not Celtic Rodri but Celtic Kwon.
I’m the type of player who can do very hard pressing and give pressure to the opponent. I’m very good at intercepting balls and also building play by giving the ball to more attacking midfield players.
Language is an obvious obstacle to overcome but the midfielder has been planning ahead, just as he had when he completed military service rather than have that issue hovering over his career in seasons ahead.
He added:
Because I knew that I’d be joining Celtic, I had some English lessons back in Korea. I heard that if you are actually in a country it’s easier to learn the language so I’m looking forward to the time when I can do an interview without an interpreter.