Newcastle United winger Park Seung-soo is back on Tyneside and looking to break into Matthias Jaissle's first-team plans after scoring for the under-21s.
The 19-year-old joined the Magpies from Suwon Bluewings last summer and made an immediate impression on former head coach Eddie Howe during pre-season. He was named on the bench for Newcastle's opening Premier League game of the season against Aston Villa and was called up again at Villa Park later in the campaign for the fourth-round FA Cup tie.
Injury and Asian Games disruption
Since then, a mixture of injuries and international duty has slowed his progress. Seung-soo was part of the South Korea squad at the Asian Games, where he helped his country win the gold medal. That time away, along with niggling fitness issues, has prevented him from building on his early promise this season.
Jaissle has handed first-team opportunities to several youngsters during his tenure, including Michael Mills, Miodrag Pivas, Kyran Thompson, Mason Miley and Vakhtang Salia in Premier League matchday squads. Fellow wingers Mills and Thompson have moved ahead of Seung-soo in the pecking order, while Matheos Ferreira, who was given pre-season minutes by Howe before his departure, has been involved in some first-team training sessions.
Under-21 form and a message to the manager
Seung-soo sent a reminder of his talents on Monday evening with a stunning goal in Newcastle under-21s' 3-2 win over Sunderland at St James' Park. Having come off the bench to make an impact in that game, he was rewarded with a start in Friday's 2-0 victory against Peterborough United in the Premier League Cup.
Under-21s boss Robbie Stockdale has challenged Seung-soo to earn a consistent run in the side and work his way back into first-team contention.
"He's got that ability, especially when he's playing that side of the pitch to dip in onto his right foot," Stockdale told Chronicle Live. "It's about consistency with Seung-soo. He's struggled a little bit with some niggles and injuries obviously when he went to the Asian Games."
"Seung-soo's got tons of ability, and we got him to a really good spot at the end of last season. He was in and around the first team, and we need to try and work really hard with him to get him back into that environment, because his quality dictates that he can impact games at any level."
Next up for the under-21s
Seung-soo will hope to be involved on Tuesday as Newcastle under-21s travel to South Yorkshire to face League Two side Rotherham United in the Jersey Mike's Trophy. Should Stockdale's side avoid defeat, they will move through to the knockout rounds of the competition.
