Park Chu-young

Park Chu-young (also romanised as Park Ju-young; born 10 July 1985) is a South Korean footballer who plays for Ulsan HD as a forward.

In February 2005, Park joined a K League club FC Seoul with the highest salary among rookie players.

In his first season, he scored 18 goals and provided 4 assists in 30 appearances (including the Korean League Cup), receiving the K League Young Player of the Year award by common consent for the first time in K League history.

In the 2007 season, he played only 15 games due to his on-and-off foot injury.

He also missed the FC Seoul's friendly match with Manchester United during the time of his injury.

On 1 September 2008, Park completed a move to Monaco.

On 30 January 2010, Park signed a three-year contract with Monaco that would keep him until 2013.

Despite having three injuries during the season, Park remained on the first team, as he scored eight goals in twenty-seven appearances.

His last season at Monaco gave him mixed results.

Park scored five goals in the first half of the season.

But then, after scoring against Sochaux, Park celebrated, which resulted him injuring his right knee and kept him out for four weeks.

He made a good display in the 2010–11 season, scoring twelve league goals, the club, however, was relegated to Ligue 2 after finishing 18th place in the league.

The relegation led Park to announce his desire to leave Monaco to play in a competitive league.

This was followed up by the club, who stated they wouldn't stand in Park's way from leaving the club.

On 13 February 2011, Park scored his seventh goal of the season in a 3–1 win over Lorient.

Thirteen days later, Park scored a brace in a 2–2 home draw over Caen.

In somewhat strange circumstances on 30 August 2011, English Premier League club Arsenal signed Park.

It is believed Chu-Young became aware of Arsenal's interest and departed his hotel room without finishing a medical with the Ligue 1 club Lille.

He was given the number 9 shirt.

On 25 October 2011, he scored his first goal for Arsenal in the fourth round of the Football League Cup in a 2–1 home win against Bolton Wanderers On 1 November, Chu-young started his first UEFA Champions League match, a 0–0 draw against French outfit Marseille.

On 22 January 2012, he made his Premier league debut as a substitute, coming on at 82 minutes into a 2–1 home defeat against Manchester United.

On 6 March 2012, he made an appearance as a substitute for Theo Walcott in the Champions League, in the 3–0 win against Milan at the Emirates Stadium, though Milan won 4–3 on aggregate.

On 8 August 2012, it was confirmed that the forward had been reassigned the number 30 shirt, with new signing Lukas Podolski taking over the number 9.

Following a loan spell at Celta Vigo, Park was advised by newly national coach Hong Myung-bo to leave the club if Park was to remain in the national team.

Amidst reported interest from Blackburn Rovers and Al-Hilal and rumours of being linked to Nottingham Forest, on 31 August 2012, Park moved to Celta de Vigo on a season-long loan from Arsenal for the 2012–13 La Liga season.

He was given the number 18 shirt.

On 22 September 2012, he scored his first goal in his home debut in a 2–1 victory over Getafe, becoming the first South Korean player ever to score a goal in La Liga.

Park would then score two more goals against Mallorca and Deportivo de La Coruña in the Galician derby.

Park would injure his right foot, which put him the end to this season and went on to score three goals in twenty one appearance.

On 13 September, he scored on his debut against Lorient in the 26th minute.

In the 2nd half, he assisted his teammate Frédéric Nimani's goal before being substituted.

The game ended 2–0, and Park was named as the Man of the Match.

In his first season at Monaco, he went on to make 31 appearances, scoring five times.

In his second season at Monaco, Park scored three goals in the first half of the season.

Park did not play a game for Arsenal for another 14 months until 30 October 2013 when he came on as a substitute for Aaron Ramsey on the 81st minute against Chelsea in the League Cup.

Arsenal lost the game 2–0.

Although there was a discussion of a possible loan move to Wigan Athletic, the deal never materialized.

From that point forward, Park did not make any further appearances in the league with the first team.

Park was released by the club on a free transfer on 30 June 2014.

As a result of his flop at Arsenal, Daily Telegraph reporter John Duerden would compare Park move to Arsenal as "the worst call to answer since Colin Farrell picked up a New York public phone in Phone Booth and endured a few hours of misery."