• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
What happened to Han Kwang-song, the 'North Korean Cristiano Ronaldo' who disappeared for three years

Home> Football> Serie A

Updated 20:17 18 Mar 2024 GMTPublished 16:28 18 Mar 2024 GMT

What happened to Han Kwang-song, the 'North Korean Cristiano Ronaldo' who disappeared for three years

An absolute rollercoaster.

Daniel Marland

Daniel Marland

In 2019, Juventus signed a North Korean youngster compared to Cristiano Ronaldo and his life since then has been all sorts of crazy.

Over the years, several players have been compared to the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.

Nobody has ever managed to live up to the moniker the 'Next Cristiano Ronaldo', but they've still been allowed to forge a decent career in the game.

Advert

In the case of Han Kwang-song, the decision was taken out of his hands.

Han moved to Italy as a teenager in 2015 as part of a government-sponsored talent scheme.

The forward spent time in Perugia's academy before eventually signing for Cagliari.

Advert

During that time, Han turned down a move to Liverpool despite meeting with Reds scout Barry Hunter.

He famously told Han he'd be given the chance to meet Steven Gerrard, with the youngster admitting he had no idea who the Reds legend was.

"The scout said: do you know Steven Gerrard?," Mauro Costorella of Perugia’s academy told First Time Finish.

Han shook his head, quite sheepishly. Costorella continued: "The scout was very surprised, he said: 'How is it possible you don’t know Steven Gerrard?' The scout turned around and said it was the first time he showed a picture of Gerrard to someone and they did not instantly go 'wow'.

Advert

Han moved to Italy in 2017. (
Getty)

Han eventually made his debut for Cagliari at the age of 19 and scored his first goal against Torino in 2017.

In goal for Torino at that time was former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart.

After failing to nail down a starting spot for Cagliari, Han decided to join Perugia in Serie B on loan. His performances there caught the eye of Juventus, who decided to sign him on a two-year loan deal in 2019.

Advert

Han mainly played for Juventus' U23s in Serie C but did make the matchday squad for a game against Lecce in October of that year. It made him the first Asian player to make a Juventus squad.

Here is where things start to get bonkers. Juventus purchased Han for €3.5 million in January 2020 before selling him to Qatar outfit Al-Duhail six days later for €7 million. The Italian giants had managed to make a tidy profit.

Han playing for Juventus. (
Getty)

The youngster found his feet in Qatar, helping Al-Duhail to Qatar Stars League Trophy glory. He'd found a place to fulfil his potential. In March 2021, his life changed forever.

Advert

Han became a victim of politics surrounding North Korea's nuclear weapons programme. In March 2021, the United Nations introduced sanctions which prevented North Korean citizens from working abroad.

The United Nations ruled his transfer from Juventus to Al-Duhail was a violation of international sanctions and his contract with the Qatari outfit was terminated.

Han during his spell in Qatar. (
Getty)

Han was deported from Qatar and put on a plane, initially set for Rome. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea closed its borders and allowed no flights in and out of the country.

It reportedly resulted in Han being stuck in an unknown embassy for several years. Han isn't allowed to give interviews and it means we're likely never to find out exactly what went on.

Now 25-years-old, Han made his first professional appearance in three years in November when he scored in North Korea's 2026 World Cup qualifier against Myanmar.

He's still without a club and it remains to be seen if he'll feature in North Korea's next game against Japan on Thursday.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Images

Topics: Juventus, Serie A, Spotlight

Daniel Marland
Daniel Marland

Daniel is a social editor for SPORTbible after moving from the writing team. Nearly scored past Stormzy at Old Trafford once.

X

@DanMarland_

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
3 hours ago
4 hours ago
  • Getty
    an hour ago

    Fans Left Furious as Kevin De Bruyne’s Man City Return Ends After Just 26 Minutes

    Both Manchester City and Napoli fans were not happy with the decision to take the Belgian off the pitch.

    Football
  • TNT Sports
    an hour ago

    Newcastle Fans Create Electric Atmosphere Before Champions League Clash With Barcelona

    Newcastle United are taking on Barcelona in the Champions League.

    Football
  • Getty
    3 hours ago

    Man City Prepared to Sign Man Utd Player in First Direct Transfer This Century

    Transfers between the Premier League's two Manchester clubs are incredibly rare

    Football
  • Getty
    4 hours ago

    Lionel Messi Broke Ballon d'Or Protocol to Make Incredible Gesture

    Messi has won the Ballon d'Or eight times in an amazing career but sometimes even the greatest need to obey the rules

    Football
  • Cristiano Ronaldo was forced to buy all of his teammates expensive gift after breaking strict club rule
  • Alisha Lehmann slammed by fans for what she did immediately after Juventus' title win
  • Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo snubbed as Leonardo Bonucci picks 'nightmare' forward as toughest opponent
  • Gianluigi Buffon snubs Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi when naming the best player he played against