According to Varzesh3, Transfermarkt recently announced the highest-earning footballers from each continent. Among the 11 Asian players on the list, only three were from South Korea. This has raised alarms for Korean football, with Sports Chosun stating that South Korea has lost to Japan.

The media outlet claims South Korea currently has only three stars: Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, and Kim Min-jae. Beyond these, no young talents are emerging, and once Son, Lee, and Kim retire, South Korea will have no voice left in Asian football.

In Transfermarkt’s published list, apart from these Korean stars, the other eight players are all Japanese: Kaoru Mitoma of Brighton, earning €45 million, and Takefusa Kubo of Real Sociedad, earning €40 million, were named Asia’s most expensive wingers.

Takehiro Tomiyasu of Arsenal, with €25 million in earnings, is Asia’s highest-paid center-back. Zion Suzuki of Parma, earning €14 million, is Asia’s most expensive goalkeeper currently. The only non-Japanese or Korean star is Uzbekistan’s Abdulkadir Khusanov, who recently joined Manchester City.

Sports Chosun says that among all Korean footballers, only two could compete with Japan’s big stars: Hwang Hee-chan of Wolves and Hwang In-beom of Feyenoord. However, their poor performances this season have sidelined them from all lists.

The media states that after the generation of Son and Lee Kang-in, South Korean football has failed to produce any notable talents, while Japan’s talent factory has prepared a flood of promising players for Europe. Sports Chosun concludes that the damage is done, and Asian football will be completely dominated by Japan in the coming years.