German Bundesliga (Part 1) Mainz 05, which most desperately wanted Cho Kyu-seong (25, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), had another striker. Mainz’s interest in signing Cho seems to have virtually ended as he is a tall striker who is taller than Cho Kyu-seong (188 cm) under a three-and-a-half-year contract.

Germany’s Mainz club officially announced on the 25th (Korean time) that it had recruited Ludovic Azorke (29) from Ligue 1 Strasbourg in France. His contract lasts until June 2026, and he wears the number 17 shirt. The club said, “He is a player who perfectly fits the characteristics the manager was looking for.”

Azorke is a tall striker of 196 cm, and after recording a’career high’ with 16 goals in the French Ligue 1 in the 2020-2021 season, he also scored 12 league goals last season. This season, he scored only one goal in 13 games, but he received a love call from Mainz and took on a new challenge. The transfer fee is 6 million euros (approximately 8.1 billion won based on the transfer mark).

As the Mainz club recruited Azorke, interest in Cho Kyu-seong is likely to virtually fade. Mainz, which is in 12th place in the Bundesliga this season, wanted to reinforce their striker to improve their scoring ability (20 goals in 16 games), which is at the bottom of the league, and in the process, rumors of the signing of Cho Kyu-seong were constantly raised. In fact, Mainz’s general manager Christian Heidel even openly revealed his interest in recruiting Cho Kyu-sung through a local interview. 토토사이트

Mainz is said to have offered a 5-year contract for a transfer fee of 3.3 million euros (approximately 4.5 billion won), but neither the Jeonbuk club nor Cho Kyu-sung could make an easy decision. Jeonbuk wanted Cho Kyu-sung to transfer this summer rather than winter, and Cho Kyu-sung also struggled with the timing of his transfer. It is said that technical director Park Ji-seong and manager Kim Sang-sik also recommended a transfer in the summer rather than the winter.

In the end, Mainz gave up the recruitment of Cho Kyu-seong and turned to another striker to complete the recruitment, completing the reinforcement of strikers through the winter transfer market. As the love call from Mainz has virtually ended, the possibility of Cho Kyu-seong going ‘directly’ to the European big leagues has become difficult, at least this winter.