Lee Chung-yong (; ; born 2 July 1988) is a South Korean footballer who plays as a winger for K League 1 club Ulsan Hyundai and is a South Korean international.
He is nicknamed "Blue Dragon", which is a literal translation of his given name "Chung-yong". He joined FC Seoul, his first club in the 2004 season. Ever since his early debut at the age of 18 for the South Korean side FC Seoul in the 2006 season of K League, Lee has gathered much attention from domestic football fans of South Korea in general, particularly because in South Korean football, where new players mostly make their entrance into professional clubs through a draft system, dropping out of middle school to sign a contract with a top division football club was a very rare case.
In January 2009, The Times named Lee as one of the top 50 rising stars in football.
Early life
Lee Chung-yong's football career started at the age of 11. Although considered to have started too late by some, his enormous talent was evident and his reputation grew among the Seoul youth football development community.
Club career
FC Seoul
In 2003, FC Seoul, then known as Anyang LG Cheetahs in its modern incarnation, then manager Cho Kwang-rae began focusing on developing a youth academy within the team. Lee, who, at the time, was attending Dobong Middle School caught the eye of a scout and manager Cho decided to attend his match. After watching only the first half, he was certain Lee had a massive potential, and decided to sign him on the spot. Subsequently, Lee dropped out of the school and joined FC Seoul. Dropping out of middle school could mean a lot later in his life since Korea does not draft middle school dropouts for its military. FC Seoul at the time signed a handful of youngsters this way, with the most prominent ones being Lee Chung-yong himself, Ko Yo-han, Koh Myong-jin and Song Jin-hyung. He was a Substitute in the 2004 League Cup, In 2006, he debuted in the K League. For the next several years, Lee honed his skills in the FC Seoul reserves alongside close friend and international teammate Ki Sung-yueng.
In 2007, Şenol Güneş, famous for coaching the third-placed Turkey national squad in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, joined FC Seoul as manager. After watching the youngsters Koh Myong-jin, Ki Sung-yueng and Lee Chung-yong carefully, he recognized the players' significant abilities and aimed to use them as important elements in the FC Seoul first team. That season, Lee Chung-yong began to break into the first team, playing in 15 league matches and scoring three goals.
The following year, in 2008, he cemented his place as a regular for FC Seoul, playing 22 league matches, scoring five goals. Both he and Ki Sung-yong won many domestic league fans for their link-up play and individual qualities so much so that they were both given the affectionate moniker "Ssang Yong" or "Double Dragon", a play on their given names.
In the 2009 season, Lee continued his good form and he completed a hat-trick of assists in the opening game of the season against Chunnam Dragons on 7 March 2009. On 4 April 2009, he scored the winning goal in a match against Seoul's fierce rival, Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
Bolton Wanderers
FC Seoul confirmed that Lee Chung-yong had agreed a deal to join Premier League side Bolton Wanderers. A statement from FC Seoul said: "The contract will be signed officially after a work permit is issued." On 29 July 2009, it was announced that he had been granted a work permit allowing him to complete a £2.2 million transfer from FC Seoul. He had already agreed personal terms on a three-year contract with Bolton the previous week and also underwent a successful medical. The transfer was officially confirmed on 14 August 2009, Lee was reported as stating "I am looking forward to this new chapter in my career and cannot wait to play my first game for my new club." With Gary Megson's dismissal in December 2009, he became his last full signing for the club.