Kwon Hyeok-Kyu / 권혁규

StMirren have opened talks with Celtic over an extended deal for Hyeokkyu Kwon.

Paisley manager Stephen Robinson has confirmed discussions are underway with Parkhead chiefs as he looks to keep the South Korean. Kwon, 22, signed a loan agreement in January until the end of the season. With six appearances under his belt since the move, the midfielder’s work has already convinced Robinson to look beyond this term and try to strike a second arrangement


He explained: “He’s someone we’d really like to keep. We’re speaking to Celtic about it, perhaps keeping him for another season with ourselves. We’d be very keen to do that, but he isn’t our player and that won’t be our decision. We knew he’d have an influence, it was about getting him game-time. He came to the country and hasn’t played a lot. It’s getting him used to Scottish football, long throws and long balls at times that he maybe isn’t used to. The physicality of our game.


He’s added that bit of quality and composure. It’s something we’d be very keen to get done. It’s possibly a long way off happening, but that would be in an ideal world for me.”


Kwon was unable to break into the Celtic top team after his switch last summer on a five-year deal from Busan I-Park. But he’s taken well to life at Saints and, although he had a strike against St Johnstone last weekend ruled out by VAR, his joyous celebrations gave clear indication that he’s loving his time.

Robinson smiled: “I can’t believe his goal was chalked off. We normally get him to sing in the dressing room after we win. We forgot to do that on Saturday.



He’s been terrific since he came into the club. He’s been a breath of fresh air, a really talented player. He gives us a lot of ownership in games, real composure on the ball.”

 

Let him stay there. Would be the best move for everyone.

18 months to get used to playing in the league would be a massive benefit to him and us.

 

18month with a recall option each transfer window just incase

 

Na, a 12 month extension that gives him.the full season next season

 

He will get player of the season at this rate

 

Give him the pre-season here and see how he gets on. 6 months of first team football could make a huge difference.

Could be ready to compete for a place with us.

 

The new manager will probably want to assess the squad..

 

I think Mourinho will like him.

 

Will never happen but it would be interesting not to block him playing against us. I mean surely we want to see how he fares against the better teams in the league who are ourselves and Rangers.

 

I think, no matter what happens, there's no harm in sending him out for another 6 months to them.

There will be an overhaul in the summer regardless of what happens this season, but Kwon will still be a bit away from fully starting, another 6 months starting for St Mirren would do him wonders.

Another 12 months might be a bit long, but as others have said, add a re-call option in and I'd be fine with that too.

 

With CalMac having been primarily used in ther holding role meant that Kwon as 3rd choice in that role the opportunities were always going to be extremely limited, but now with Iwata being given more opportunities to impress and CalMac being able to be used a little more advanced, it's good all round. Either way, that sort of role is covered for us and even in the summer, it's not a priority position in terms of recruitment, compared to other areas of the park.

But it is great to see how well he is doing for St M. Am all for an extended loan, and it's something that BR has been alright with in the past also, see Ryan Christie spent an initial 6 months on loan in Jan 2017 til end of 2016/17 season but allowed a 12 month extension for all of 2017/18 there also (admittedly, that was part of the Jonny Hayes deal), but the point being, it's not something that would be out of character for BR to greenlight.

Would be more than happy to see the loan extended for 2024/25 season, perhaps with a recall in Jan 2025 option. If they can agree a deal between the clubs between now and the end of the season, the only real question would be where he spends the pre-season would be conditional on where St M finish. If they do qualify for Europe - which is a real possibility, then he should be with St M to prepare for and help qualify for that.

 

I think they're gonna stick with Robinson

 

We definitely need to be actively doing this more!

We're failing so badly at giving players at all levels game time.

We should be flooding Scotland with talent that won't be making double digit appearances for us.

Kobayashi, McCarthy, Holm, along with a few youngsters should've been loaned out in January. I know the first two should've been sold, but you can't have everything.

Vata, Frame, Kelly, Murray and Morrison should've all been loaned out at the start of the season if they were fit and there contracts were sorted.

 

Interesting, but * stupid

 

We don't block players, the league does it's not our call.

Before anyone references Paddy Roberts against City was UEFA competition which has different rules.

 

St Mirren are away to Ross County on Sky at 8 tonight if anyone wants to see the Korean Rodri in action.

 

Why bother ...



You're going to make a video of everything he does to save us the hassle.

 

* sake, now you are making me appreciate Rodgers.

 

A part of me wants him here.

I know, I’m not proud.