Played for both: 'Keys to the house' Ki Sung-yeung

In the summer of 2013, Paolo Di Canio asked the Sunderland board for a midfield player 'with the keys to the house'. He got a Ki - a Ki Sung-yeung.

Xander Turnbull | Feb 23, 2024

Played for both: 'Keys to the house' Ki Sung-yeung /

Last season a lot of Sunderland fans broke their 'never fall in love with a loan player' for Amad Diallo, and it was a rule that Ki Sung-yeung helped establish.

The South Korean was a stylish and elegant midfield player back in the 'miracle' escape season of 2013-14 whilst he was on loan from Swansea.

Ki Sung-yeung was born on the 24th January 1989 in Gwangju, South Korea. He started his senior career at FC Seoul and was given his senior debut on the 4th March 2007 by Turkish manager Senol Gunes.

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The following season he staked his claim as being one of the main members of the team. He scored a 92nd minute winner against Seoul’s main rivals, Suwon Samsung Bluewings and helped his team that season to second place in the K-League with four goals and one assist.

With Ki producing more top performances the following season, this was attracting interest from clubs in Europe like Porto, Hamburg and PSV. In the end, it was Celtic who made the move.

Ki joined Celtic officially on the 13th of December 2009 and made his debut a month on, in a 1-1 draw against Falkirk and was named Man of the Match by the official Celtic website.

He scored his first goal in Celtic colours in a 4-0 win over St Mirren in August 2010, but Ki had struggled to make his way into the starting line-up regularly in his first ten months at the club.

However, by the end of October 2010, he had found himself to be a first team regular. He also won the Young Player of the Month award for his impressive performances during October.

Ki started the 2011-12 campaign strongly, scoring the second goal in Celtic’s 2-0 win over Hibernian. He was voted Man of the Match once again and was given plenty of praise from manager Neil Lennon.

“He's a very important player to us," Lennon said. "I rate him very highly. He can go on to be anything he wants to be. We think he is a class player and we're glad he's here.

"Ki has been very consistent over the past 18 months. He's developing nicely into a class player. He had good presence and good composure on the ball. He has a goal or two in him and his passing range is excellent”.

After scoring again in a 5-1 win over Dundee, Ki was attracting interest from Blackburn Rovers, Tottenham and several Russian Premier League sides, but Celtic weren’t looking to sell their South Korean superstar.

That decision proved sound. He would go on to score seven goals and have six assists to his name at the end of the 2011-12 season as he helped Celtic to the Scottish title.

On the 24th of August 2012, Ki joined Premier League side Swansea for £6 million on a three-year contract, making him the Swans' record signing at the time.

Ki made his debut in a 3-1 win over Barnsley on the 28th of August and in February 2013, Ki won his first trophy with the club as Swansea ran out 5-0 winners in the League Cup final over Bradford.

He actually played in an unfamiliar central defensive role in the final, but the score line showed that it was no problem.

Ki then surprisingly joined Sunderland on-loan ahead of the 2013-14 season. He scored his first goal of the loan spell on December the 17th 2013 in Sunderland’s League Cup quarter-final against Chelsea, putting the ball into the back of the net in the 119th minute of the game to give them the win.

On the 22nd of January, Ki played in his second League Cup final in as many seasons, but Sunderland lost 3-1 to Manchester City at Wembley, despite leading at half time.

Ki helped Sunderland steer clear of relegation from the Premier League that season, but a knee injury ruled him out of Gus Poyet's 'miracle' escape.

On his return to Swansea for the 2014-15 season, Ki said he wanted to grow and improve as a player. He did just that, scoring eight goals and adding one assist that season

It was his most successful season at the club and he was also named as the Supporters' Player of the Season.

After a few years of struggling for Swansea, the 2017-18 campaign marked the end of their Premier League journey. Ki scored two goals in February which proved to be his only goals of the season, in home wins against Burnley and West Ham.

After looking like they were going to be safe and retaining their Premier League status, the clubs lack of fire power couldn’t stop them from heading towards the relegation trap door. Ki left the club at the end of season.

After unsuccessful stints at Newcastle United and Mallorca, Ki returned to the club where he started his professional career.

On the 21st of July 2020, Ki signed a deal with FC Seoul which would see him at the club until the end of 2023. Ki played for the South Korea national team 110 times during his career between 2008 and 2019 scoring ten times.

Played for both: 'Keys to the house' Ki Sung-yeung

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