Hwang In-beom is FC Porto's new midfielder, and he cost just 4.5 million from Feyenoord
The South Korea international signed with Porto until 2029 with an option for a further year. What he cost, what he brings and when he debuts.
FC Porto went shopping for midfield experience and did not need deep pockets to find it. Hwang In-beom is officially a Porto player, bought from Feyenoord for 4.5 million euros with performance add-ons that could reach another 500,000. The contract runs to 2029, with an option for one more season.
Who is Hwang In-beom and what does he give Porto?
He is 29, has 76 caps for South Korea, and arrives at the Dragão needing no introduction to anyone who watched this summer: a goal and an assist in three World Cup appearances. He is a builder rather than a breaker — quick short passing, a good eye for space, the sort of midfielder who gives a team a rhythm instead of jolting it forward.
His route here explains the fit. He came through the K League, then Russia, then the Netherlands, where the game asks a midfielder for exactly what the Portuguese league asks: play out under pressure and do not lose the ball in your own third. At 4.5 million, that is a small risk against a potentially large return.
When does he make his debut?
Soon. Hwang landed in Porto on 18 July, passed his medical, signed, and was presented days later, in time for a full pre-season before the 2026/27 Primeira Liga kicks off on 8 August with Porto at home. That leaves a solid fortnight to settle in before the points start counting.
It is worth reading the signing against the rest of the window. While Sporting banked 40 million from Hjulmand’s exit and Benfica reinforced on loan, Porto went to the cheaper end of the market for a World Cup international. That is not always how a title is won, but it is how a squad gets built without mortgaging the budget.
Official details of the deal are on the FC Porto site, and the full fixture list for the new season is published by Liga Portugal.
By Vasco Almada
Image: Edgar Jiménez from Porto, Portugal / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
