The English paper The Guardian reported, Tuesday, (KST) that, "Manchester City League of Nations could be bolstered by the arrival of South Korea's golden golden-goal scorer Ahn Jung-hwan. But Kevin Keegan faces competition from Chelsea's in the chase for Ahn…" Also, professional soccer Internet site Planetfootball.com said on many English clubs want to sign up Ahn, with Chelsea and Manchester being most active.

Also, the BBC said on June 22 that Ahn distinguished himself as one of the five budding stars from this year’s World Cup and that there was a high possibility for him to transfer to West Ham.

The president of Atletico Madrid said on June 23, after the match with Spain, that his club was interested in Ahn, adding he would send a representative to Korea to begin negotiations. Ahn's management company E-Player, said that currently it had received contacts from two foreign agents and is negotiating with five clubs from England, Spain and Germany.

On the other hand, Ahn's current team, spokesman Giovanionni of Italy's Perugia said, the club had completely bought all the rights to the player from the K league Busan Icons that it had leased him from for two years. He said Ahn is still entirely 100% Perugia’s.

According to the Busan Icons the contract said it must transfer Ahn to Perugia if they want complete transferal and pay US$1.6 million. It added that if Ahn doesn't want to go to Perugia, then it would appeal to FIFA.

E-players said Ahn had refused a full transfer to Perugia and the lease contract was annulled because the Italian club violated FIFA regulations by not informing the player of renewal six months before the end of the contract. It said on April 30, Perugia didn't even keep the promise to pay US$800,000 that was part of the transfer deal.

Other Korean players have higher possibilities of entering Europe as well; Match Agent of the Korea Football Association, and Seol Ki-hyun's agent ‘Come’ said recently there had been many calls by European scouts from England, Spain and Italy for Korean players.

Seol Ki-hyun is the player with the most hopes; once on the release list, Anderlecht's coach Antuani suddenly focused on Seol as if he had never considered releasing him. However, Seol avoided a direct response and will probably sign up to another team with better conditions or move to England.

Guus Hiddinks protégés, Song Jong-guk, Lee Young-pyo, Kim Nam-il and Park Ji-sung have also become "valuable bodies." Song and Lee took turns in the match with Portugal to mark Figo and Conceicao to the surprise of the world. Agents from England and Germany sought out personnel of the Korean team to find out their status.

As rumors of coach Hiddink returning to his home ground in the Netherlands abound, Kim Nam-il is rumored to be following him. Hiddink never lost an opportunity to praise him, saying Kim was precious and didn't fall short when compared to any star player.

Park Ji-sung, who is playing for Kyoto Purple Sanga in Japan's J League has undying physical strength and is a playmaker; running in all positions such as defensive midfielder. As his contract ends later this year, he will become more "valuable" as he can freely change teams. Germany’s club Bundesliga is drooling over Cha Du-ri, having once experienced Cha’s father, former coach Cha Bum-geun. (Ko Seok-tae, kost@chosun.com )