Hyeok-kyu Kwon was born in Busan, South Korea, on 13 March 2001 (age 25). A commanding 6ft 3in (1.90m) defensive midfielder, he came through at Busan I'Park and had his most productive league season there in 2023, scoring two goals in 20 appearances.
Celtic signed him from Busan I'Park in July 2023 for around £860,000. It was a development move rather than a ready-made first-team solution, and that showed. Kwon did not establish himself in Glasgow, with a spell at Karlsruher in August 2024 giving him the sort of senior football he was not getting at Celtic.
He left Celtic in July 2025, joining Nantes for around £220,000. Since then his career has moved through Nantes and Karlsruher, with the German spell giving him further minutes in the 2. Bundesliga. In 2025-26, he has made eight league appearances for Karlsruher without scoring.
Kwon remains an established professional rather than a finished article. His current market value is around £850,000, according to Transfermarkt, and his career so far has been a steady search for regular football after an early move to Celtic that never quite took hold.
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