Jeong Woo-young vows to return stronger after ankle surgery sidelines him

Jeong Woo-young (26, Union Berlin) underwent surgery but remained undeterred. He promised to return stronger.

On the 4th (Korean time), Jeong Woo-young shared a post on his personal social media showing that he had undergone ankle surgery, expressing, "The surgery went well!! I’m disappointed that I can’t be with the team for the rest of this season, but I will come back stronger. I'll be back."

His teammates from the national team, including Lee Kang-in, Seol Young-woo, and Lee Tae-seok, left supportive comments. The official Union Berlin account and his former teammate at Stuttgart, Nick Woltemade, also sent encouragement. Bayern Munich junior Lee Hyun-joo wrote in German, "Get well soon."

Jeong Woo-young recently received the unfortunate news that he is out for the season. He started in the match against his former team SC Freiburg on the 30th of last month but twisted his left ankle just 4 minutes after kickoff. Although he tried to get back up after receiving treatment, he could no longer continue playing. Ultimately, Jeong was substituted out in the 8th minute.

After the match, Jeong Woo-young was seen using crutches. He limped along while relying on his crutches to greet the traveling fans. Steffen Baumgart, the Union coach, noted, "Unfortunately, Jeong Woo-young twisted his ankle. If he comes out on crutches, we can only hope for the best outcome. However, we think the situation is not good."

Concerns about being out for the season arose. The German publication Bild queried, "Was Freiburg the last match for Jeong Woo-young at Union?" and stated, "Is the season over for Jeong Woo-young at Union? If the worst fears are realized, this injury could mean being out for the season. Coach Baumgart revealed that he would immediately undergo an MRI and then check if he could play again."

The concerns became a reality. The media reported on the 2nd, "Jeong Woo-young's season is over! The worst fears have been confirmed. Jeong Woo-young will no longer be able to play for Union this season." They explained, "Jeong has suffered a serious ligament injury to his left ankle. This means he will miss Union's fight for survival. He is scheduled to meet with a specialist in Frankfurt on Wednesday to set a surgery date."

Ultimately, Jeong Woo-young underwent surgery. Fortunately, the surgery seems to have gone well, but it is a disappointing injury for Jeong, who was coming back strong in the second half of the season. Especially as the possibility of a complete transfer to Union has now become uncertain, his future is unclear. Even if he returns to Stuttgart, securing a position will not be easy.

Bild also noted, "Jeong Woo-young could leave Union like this. Union has a mandatory purchase option of about €6 million (approximately 9.5 billion won). However, it’s questionable whether the board wants to spend that much money," adding, "Coach Baumgart and the upper management believe Jeong needs improvement, particularly in defense. He now faces the crisis of having to quietly say goodbye to Union while using crutches!"

Jeong Woo-young is a winger who transferred from Incheon Daegun High School to Bayern Munich in 2018 after being selected by coach Carlo Ancelotti. After joining the youth team, he quickly made his first-team debut and garnered a lot of expectations. He set a record as the first Korean to wear the Bayern uniform, doing so much faster than Kim Min-jae.

Afterward, Jeong Woo-young transferred to Freiburg to gain playing opportunities and gained experience through loan spells with Bayern's B team. He scored 5 goals during the 2021-2022 season at Freiburg, making a name for himself, and settled at Stuttgart in the summer of 2023.

Jeong Woo-young has consistently performed while wearing the Taegeuk mark. He made his A-match debut in 2021 after being called up by coach Paulo Bento and also participated in the 2022 Qatar World Cup. He also contributed to the gold medal-winning team by becoming the top scorer (8 goals) at the Hangzhou Asian Games in September 2023.

Jeong Woo-young has considerable experience with the A national team, having participated in the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Although he has faced difficult times at Union and distanced himself since March 2024, he was called up by coach Hong Myung-bo in November last year. Jeong seemed likely to add strength to the national team again with his performance in the second half of the season, but he was left disappointed after undergoing ankle surgery.

The biggest concern is Jeong Woo-young's future for the next season. He joined Union on loan after leaving Stuttgart in the summer of last year. He joined Stuttgart in the summer of 2023 but was edged out in the competition for a starting position last season.

Jeong Woo-young, wearing the Union uniform to secure playing time, showed good form early in the season, including scoring his debut goal in the 4th round, but he has since fallen silent. He has consistently received playing opportunities but has not been able to connect in terms of attack points.

Nevertheless, Jeong Woo-young showcased light footwork last month against Frankfurt, marking his first goal in 100 days. He has regularly started, establishing himself as a key player. His season statistics show 23 matches with 3 goals and 2 assists. There is a good possibility that Union will consider a complete transfer, seeing Jeong Woo-young's contributions.

However, Jeong Woo-young's absence during crucial moments has put a red light on his complete transfer. Ideally, he was supposed to lead Union's survival in the Bundesliga with strong performances towards the end of the season, but that has fallen through. Jeong has expressed a clear desire to remain at Union, stating just about three weeks ago, "I am very happy in Berlin. I want to stay here in the summer."

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