Hwang Hee-chan. [Yonhap]
Hwang Hee-chan. [Yonhap]

South Korea national team forward Hwang Hee-chan has left Wolverhampton Wanderers of the English Championship to join Bundesliga club Schalke 04 on loan.

Schalke announced the signing Wednesday (Korean Standard Time) on its website. The loan from Wolverhampton runs for one season through June 30, 2027.

Hwang, who played for Leipzig in Germany until 2021, returns to the German top flight five years later.

Local media reports say the loan deal includes an option for Schalke to sign Hwang permanently by paying Wolverhampton a transfer fee of 3 million euros ($3.48 million) at the end of the season.

Hwang's future at Wolverhampton had been uncertain, and he secured the move just hours before the transfer deadline closed at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

He had been seeking a transfer after Wolverhampton was relegated from the Premier League as the bottom club last season.

Several clubs from the Premier League and the Championship were mentioned as potential destinations, but Hwang ultimately ended up in a Schalke shirt.

Schalke spent three seasons in Germany's second division from 2023 to 2026 before winning the second-division title last season to earn promotion back to the Bundesliga.

The club has never won the Bundesliga title, finishing as runner-up seven times.

"I watched Schalke's matches last season and felt this club would be a good fit for me," Hwang said. "When I was at Leipzig in 2021, I visited Schalke's home ground, but there were no fans in the stands because of COVID-19. Now I can't wait to play in front of a full crowd as a Schalke player."

Hwang's Schalke debut is expected to come in the club's Bundesliga Round 2 home match against Bayern Munich at Veltins-Arena on Sunday at 1:30 a.m.

The match sets up a likely "Korean derby" showdown with national team defender Kim Min-jae.


min3654@heraldcorp.com