Rangers scouting: The South Korean superstar who could be answer to right wing conundrum

When Napoli came to Ibrox, one of the most bitter-sweet aspects of the affair was that we finally got to see a competent right winger terrorising defenders; sadly, it was Napoli's Matteo Politano and not anyone within the Rangers ranks.

The paradoxical nature of Rangers' situation is not that the club have failed in their forays into the market per se - instead, they appear to have ignored the problem hoping it would fix itself.

Rabbi Matondo is a left-winger, Scott Wright is a traditional pass-first winger, Fashion Sakala is a combo-forward, and neither combination of these positions includes a solution for the right side. None of the three is that dynamic inside forward who meshes goalscoring and creation with an ability to take on defenders. That is understandable as none of the trio was signed to do so on the right.

One lesson can be learned if we shift our focus from recruitment to those around the club in the food chain. No area is too remote or obscure to be profitable. Rather, Rangers should look to extrude every ounce of value in their recruitment processes, which is sometimes best achieved looking outside what has become the traditional "Rangers markets".

With this in mind, let's look at South Korea's top prospect, who has been embarrassing left-sided defenders across the K-League, Ulsan Hyundai's Won-Sang Um, or how he is known to many fans across Korea, Um Salah. The nickname was born out of comparisons made between the Korean and Mohamed Salah.

Um is a diminutive dynamic winger, standing at just over 170cm and weighing over 60kg, as the graphic below suggests. He can harness his low centre of gravity; this, combined with his insane pace, most defenders, even those outside of the K-League, struggle to track and maintain ground with the winger.

The heatmap below shows that he is most comfortable and natural playing on the right wing, playing very wide and hugging the touchline, but can assume a more central role when needed. He has played minimal minutes on the left; however, given that he appears ambipedal and is naturally right-footed, he is likely to be effective on both sides but ultimately prefers the right.

Won-Sang Um (Image: Won-Sang Um)

Looking at the graphic below, we can begin benchmarking Um’s statistical data and see how it compares to his positional peers in the K-League. By any indicators of significance, Um is a statistical marvel and, importantly, peaks in the areas of the game which are largely void in the current Rangers rotation.

Um is a fantastic goalscorer and was embroiled in the battle for the golden boot for a large chunk of the season. Despite this, he profiles as a dual threat in front of goal, producing incredible goalscoring and goal creation numbers, an invaluable commodity. He is an effective dribbler who can gain significant yardage through rapid accelerations, often extending to longer progressive runs.

Finally, he is active when his side is out of possession, posting above-average metrics across the board, suggesting he is willing to use his energy for the greater good and maintains a humble, hard-working demeanor.

Won-Sang Um stats (Image: Won-Sang Um stats)

A Cool Finisher

As already established, Um is a goalscorer. Let’s take a look at what methods and from where on the pitch he does so. First, let's look at his shot map below. What we see is a shot map in the mold of a centre-forward as opposed to a winger, characterised by the mass of high-quality shots in the box and the lack of high-risk high-reward attempts from distance. The interesting part of this is that Um is a very capable ball-striker and could easily be a bit selfish and shoot more, but prefers to optimise the chain of possession by looking for shots as close to goal as possible.

Wyscout (Image: Wyscout)

Um’s ability to find the corners of the goal go above all else when it comes to reasons why he consistently finds the goal. His ability to strike the ball with both feet forces goalkeepers to maintain a more central position, which gives the Korean even greater space to aim for. A great example of this comes below; here, we see Um take on two defenders, slaloming between the pair, before arriving in the penalty box and slotting the ball to the bottom right corner with his right foot.

Beating his man and finding the net is a largely repeatable action for Um. He comes alive when isolating defenders and taking them on 1v1 as his pace, control, vision, and finishing ability often lead to defenders crumbling on the weight of their decision-making or lack thereof. Below, we can see Um beat his man by pushing it past him and sprinting onwards before dispatching the ball into the opposite top corner, appearing effortless at game speed.

Um doesn't solely feast on iso situations but also maintains a ball-striking toolkit similar to many strikers, capable of scoring canny and clever first-time finishes. There is perhaps no better example of that fact than the goal he scored in the screenshot below. Here Um drifts centrally as possession is consolidated deep on the left side of the field. His teammate delivers a deep cross that drops right on him; what he does next is magic. He plucks it out of the air and sends it back to the opposite left corner, beating the goalkeeper in the process.

Pocket-Rocket in Possession

As already established, Um is incredibly quick and, on the smaller side, a natural combination for most top wingers. His pace does account for a lot of his ball-carrying ability, but that isn't to see he is unpolished on the ball, far from it. Instead, his ability and most of his repeatable actions are based on him beating opponents with innovative movement or a bit of flair, but then taking advantage of the space with his pace. This is often a precursor to a shot of his own or shot assist; just take a look at all the coloured dots below.

As the right side of the graphic suggests, Um is best when taking on either the wide left centre-back or the left-back, or even better, the space between the two and, in turn, forcing shape adjustments or collapsing the opposition's defensive line. He is adept in tight spaces as all good wingers are, although he does come alive in the transition where space is more significant. Given this, he is Ulsan's primary counter-target. As you can see in the graphics below, Um will often drift deep to pick the ball up and then immediately and, with immense verticality, drive forwards.

Um has the requisite ability in tight spaces to manage the domestic circuit in Scotland but will perform better when given more possession in Europe and the more open games in the Premiership. Regardless, his baseline is still impressive and contributory.

Rangers Review Newsletter (Image: Rangers Review)

Creative Contributions

Um is unlike many of the game’s top wingers. He doesn't maintain a role similar to a wide 10 when in the build-up, rather he is often uninvolved in the deep build-up, staying high and wide to pin opposition defenders back, and playing a role more akin to a striker. This can be seen in his below-average received passes p90, which may seem not rudimentary, but then you must consider that his side enjoy a close to league average high in overall possession, so Um having a low possession share is something to note.

Um’s passing tendencies can be seen in the graphic above. As with all radars the larger the bar, the more actions made in that area, with the colour representing accuracy as seen below the title. The Korean plays the vast majority of his passes backward, again something more akin of a striker than a winger, often playing it back to his midfield or 10, often targeting the centre of the pitch. When in an advanced right wing position, Um’s central goal is to get the ball in the box, with crossing usually his preferred medium. Below are two great examples of his ability to do so, and how profitable it becomes when he does so successfully.

As Um gets further and further from his preferred wing, his ability to create for his teammate's beings to drop, but it would be wrong to say that it disappears. As seen in the graphic below, Um is far more productive when playing on the wing and spamming crossing towards his fellow forwards, but he does contribute, albeit not consistently when playing with the goal in front of him; this is more due to his lack of time in these areas as opposed to any genuine technical deficiency.

Whether he could translate his creative output into a more central area is undoubtedly a question mark, but I would back him to do so. Albeit, don't expect Um to address the creative void we have centrally at Rangers, set up him to succeed by asking him to take on players on the right wing and provide a steady stream of balls towards Antonio Colak or Alfredo Morelos.

Fee and Feasibility

Um only joined Ulsan at the start of this season in February. Still, it would be a shock if he completes the entirety of the 2023 season in Korea.

It's expected someone will pick him up in the upcoming January window or the summer 2023 window if he's still available. The fee that Ulsan paid is undisclosed for what it's worth, although, for reference, the most expensive K-League transfer of the past four years was a £1.44m fee, so let's assume it's below that fee.

Um is undoubtedly a top prospect who has grafted to get where he is now, consistently progressing in the university system and for Gwangju before becoming a star at Ulsan. He's just 23 and has an undeniable upwards trajectory, one that Rangers should attach themselves to sooner rather than later. With the K-League concluding at the end of next month, Rangers should target Um in the January window, as he would assuage many of their current issues and provide a terrific opportunity to make money should Rangers treat him right.

He has gradually improved as opposed to breaking out like crazy in one season and, as such, has a rounded game, although the 2022 season has been his true superstar party.