Hwang In-beom joins FC Porto on 3+1-year deal worth up to W8.5b

South Korean midfielder Hwang In-beom, 29, is leaving Dutch Eredivisie club Feyenoord to join Portuguese powerhouse FC Porto.

Porto announced Tuesday on its official website that Hwang had signed a three-year contract with a one-year option. The transfer fee is 4.5 million euros ($5.14 million), and he will wear the No. 16 jersey.

Local media reports said the fee could rise by an additional 500,000 euros depending on Hwang's performance, bringing the potential total to 5 million euros.

Hwang arrived in Porto on Sunday local time, completed his medical examination and took part in his official signing ceremony that day.

Hwang is only the second Korean player to represent Porto, following Seok Hyun-jun, who joined the club in January 2016.

Hwang began his professional career at Daejeon Citizen — now Daejeon Hana Citizen — in the K League 1, before moving on to Vancouver Whitecaps in the United States, Olympiacos in Greece and Red Star Belgrade in Serbia.

He joined Feyenoord in 2024 and, despite frequent injuries, consistently impressed whenever he took to the pitch.

At the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America, which recently concluded, Hwang scored one goal and provided one assist in South Korea's only group-stage victory — a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in Group A.

Porto, Hwang's new club, is one of Portugal's most decorated sides, having won the domestic league title 31 times. The club has also claimed the UEFA Champions League twice — in the 1986-87 and 2003-04 seasons — and the Europa League twice, in the 2002-03 and 2010-11 seasons.

With Hwang now competing in the Portuguese top flight, a "Korean derby" is in prospect, as midfielder Lee Hyun-ju is already playing for FC Arouca.

In a club interview, Hwang named Park Ji-sung as his football hero and recalled how he fell in love with the sport. "Thanks to my father, who played football every weekend when I was young, I naturally got into the game," he said. "I just kept kicking and touching the ball, and before I knew it, I had fallen in love with football."

min3654@heraldcorp.com