British Premier League side sends offer to S.Korean forward

South Korean forward Lee Chun-soo has got an offer from British Premier League side, Fulham, the Korea Times reported on Tuesday.

South Korea's Ulsan Tigers football club, which Lee belongs to, said Monday that Fulham sent them an offer by fax last Saturday to lease the 25-year-old striker for one year.

Kim Hyung-yong, Tigers vice president, said Fulham requested to loan Lee from July 1-June 30 2008 before deciding whether to arrange a transfer deal for him from the K-League club, based in the southeastern city of Ulsan.

"We still have time and will look at whether the deal is good for both Ulsan and Lee," Kim said.

According to the vice president, Fulham suggested an annual salary of 1.49 million U.S. dollars for Lee and 200,000-U.S. dollar loan fee for Ulsan. The transfer fee, if it is agreed to, will be 3.97 million U.S. dollars.

Fulham, founded in 1879, is based at Craven Cottage in London, a stadium where Lee had an impressive outing on Feb. 6 scoring the winner on a free kick as South Korea beat Greece 1-0 in a friendly.

"If the team (Ulsan) cooperates with me (for the move), I will begin a new challenge as a Premier Leaguer after doing my best for Ulsan," Lee told local media after the announcement on Monday.

Lee has been hoping to join his World Cup team members Park Ji- sung of Manchester United, Lee Young-pyo of Tottenham Hotspur and Seol Ki-hyeon of Reading in the world's most popular league. Lee Dong-gook of Middlesbrough followed them this year.

Lee, the K-League's most valuable player in 2005, played 18 months in Spain with Real Sociedad and Numancia before returning to the local league in 2005.

Fulham, rejoining the Premier League in 2002, finished the 2003/ 04 and 2004/5 seasons in the 20-strong league in ninth and 13th places, respectively.

Source: Xinhua