| Kwon Hyeok-kyu | |
| Hangul | 권혁규 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 權赫圭 |
| RR | Gwon Hyeokgyu |
| MR | Kwŏn Hyŏkkyu |
Kwon Hyeok-kyu (Korean: 권혁규; born 13 March 2001) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nantes.
Kwon started playing football at under-12 team of K League club Busan IPark in 2010, playing for Busan's youth teams for 10 years.[1] On 16 July 2019, Kwon was promoted to Busan's senior team.[2] On 14 September, he made his professional debut as a starting central midfielder in a K League 2 match against Jeonnam Dragons.[3] Busan was promoted to the K League 1 at the end of the season, and so he became a first division player the next season.
In April 2021, Kwon was enlisted in military team Gimcheon Sangmu, performing his mandatory military service for one and a half years.[4] He won the K League 2 title as he played as a defensive midfielder for Sangmu that year.[5] On 7 September 2022, he returned to Busan by being discharged from the military service.[6]
Kwon received an offer from Scottish Premiership club Celtic in December 2022,[7] and their deal was done in July 2023. On 24 July, Celtic announced that he had signed on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[8] He said his ambition to become Celtic's best player and advance to the Bundesliga or the Premier League in an interview with Busan Ilbo before the transfer.[9][10] His interview embarrassed Celtic supporters, but there was also a positive view that he was a honest player who set a clear goal.[11]
Kwon had failed to make his debut at Celtic and was loaned to St Mirren from January to May 2024 and Hibernian in the 2024–25 season.[12][13] At the two Scottish clubs, he made 29 Premiership appearances, but had a hard time with two injuries.[14][15]
On 25 July 2025, Kwon signed a three-year contract with Ligue 1 club Nantes.[16]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Busan IPark | 2019 | K League 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| 2020 | K League 1 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 17 | 1 | ||
| 2022 | K League 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | K League 2 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 20 | 2 | ||
| Total | 43 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | 46 | 3 | |||
| Gimcheon Sangmu (draft) | 2021 | K League 2 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | |
| 2022 | K League 1 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 19 | 0 | ||
| Total | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 34 | 0 | |||
| St Mirren (loan) | 2023–24 | Scottish Premiership | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Hibernian (loan) | 2024–25 | Scottish Premiership | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| Nantes | 2025–26 | Ligue 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |
| Career total | 108 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 114 | 3 | ||
Gimcheon Sangmu
이어 "셀틱에서 가장 잘하는 선수가 돼 독일 분데스리가나 잉글랜드 프리미어리그(EPL) 등 더 높은 곳으로 가도록 하겠다"는 포부도 밝혔다.
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