South Korean striker Ji Dong-won, currently playing for Sunderland in the English Premier League, said Monday that he knew nothing about rumors that he had a medical test in Hamburg in order to join Hamburger SV of German Bundesliga.

“I know nothing of the news. I found out about (the rumors) after I came to Korea,” the 22-year-old forward told reporters at South Korean national team’s training camp in Paju, north of Seoul. “I didn’t even go to Germany. I came straight from Newcastle.”

Earlier in the day, local media, citing the Twitter account of Sunderland News, reported that Ji’s move to Hamburger SV was imminent. The transaction, according to the reports, would have been worth 4 million pounds ($6.4 million).

If Ji’s move had been confirmed he would have been the fifth player in Germany’s top league this season, after Son Heung-min of Bayer Leverkusen, Koo Ja-cheol of VfL Wolfsburg, Park Joo-ho of Mainz 05 and defender Hong Jeong-ho of FC Augsburg.

Ji also mentioned South Korean midfielder Ki Sung-yueng, saying that they promised each other to “not get hurt and finish the season well.” Sunderland acquired Ki last week on loan from Swansea City.

Ji made his professional debut in 2010 and moved to Sunderland the next year, playing 19 league matches and scoring two goals in the 2011-12 season. He moved to FC Augsburg on a loan deal the following season, scoring five goals in 17 matches.

He has yet to net a goal this season.
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)