Lee Young-pyo appeared on the YouTube channel ‘Dalsune Live’ on the 22nd (Korea time) and revealed the behind-the-scenes story of the Tottenham Hotspur transfer process.
Lee Young-pyo is one of the legends representing Korean soccer. After being selected for the first time in 1999, he played 127 A matches and joined the Century Club (more than 100 A matches). He led the team to the semi-finals at the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, and also contributed to advancing to the round of 16 for the first time at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, an away match.
Lee Young-pyo who made his professional debut with Anyang LG Cheetah (currently FC Seoul) was summoned by Guus Hiddink after the 2002 World Cup, and joined PSV Eindhoven, a prestigious Ededivisie club in the Netherlands, along with Park Ji-sung. During the three seasons at Eindhoven, Lee produced impressive results, with 117 matches, one goal and 17 assists. 파워볼실시간
Since then, Lee Young-pyo has become the second Korean Premier Leaguer, joining Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League in 2005. Currently, Korea’s best player Son Heung-min is famous for his team, but he made a name for Lee Young-pyo’s team a long time ago.
Lee has solidified his starting position at Tottenham as well. Gareth Bale, who later became a Real Madrid legend, was also a backup member of Lee’s team. Starting from the 2005-2006 season, Lee was in charge of Tottenham’s left-back line for three seasons. He played in 92 games, and was given opportunities to play consistently. In other words, he played in more than 30 games each season.
In 2008, he joined prestigious Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga led by Jurgen Klopp (currently Liverpool F.C.). He also played 22 games for Dortmund, where he played as a starting member.
Lee moved to Al Hilal, Saudi Arabia, in the summer of 2009, and spent his final years in 2012 with the Whitecaps in Vancouver, the U.S. MLS. Over the past two years, he recorded 69 games, one goal and six assists, and the Whitecaps displayed courtesy to the Korean legend by handing over the captain’s armband in Lee’s retirement game.
After his retirement, Lee has been working as a KBS commentator and served as CEO of Gangwon FC until last season. He was vice chairman of the Korea Football Association until April this year. He runs a footwear startup called “Socks Up” and is living as a commentator, soccer administrator and entrepreneur.
Lee Young-pyo, who was usually seen on soccer broadcasts or SBS’s “The Girls Who Hit the Goal,” appeared on Dalsune Live “Lee Young-pyo’s Invitation Seat” run by commentator Park Moon-sung. In the broadcast, Lee revealed his transfer story.
It is said that there were six teams that proposed to recruit Lee. “We received offers from six teams. Manchester City, Newcastle United, West Ham United, FC Porto, AS Monaco, and Tottenham wanted to recruit Lee,” Lee said.
The team that offered the highest salary was Monaco. Monaco was not obligated to pay taxes. However, Lee Young-pyo himself wanted to play in the Premier League and chose to move to Tottenham.
However, Tottenham disappointed Lee Young-pyo. Tottenham’s salary was too low than expected. It was Chairman Daniel Levy who negotiated Lee Young-pyo with a low salary.
He is famous for being a notorious negotiator. Alex Ferguson once said that negotiating with him is more difficult than having hemorrhoids after negotiating with him.