Target Scouting has partnered with Hudl and Statsbomb to utilize their On-Ball Value Model and Physical Data in our reports.

Jae-Min Seo is a 22-year-old midfielder who plays for Incheon United in the K-League. He played extensively in K2 with Incheon before helping them to achieve promotion ahead of the 2026 season. Seo has played 12 times for South Korea at various youth levels. Most notably, he is currently an active member of South Korea’s U-23 team. This means that he may have the opportunity to win a military service exemption at this year’s Asian Games.

Seo typically plays as a centre-midfielder in a 4-4-2 for Incheon. He is listed at 5’8″ with a slim build. Seo’s best trait by far is his passing ability and overall technical skill. Seo is capable of playing line breaking and defence splitting passes with a really impressive level of accuracy. His first touch and close control are also really strong. The problem is that he does not utilize these skills nearly often enough. If you take a look at his player radar, you will note that the absolute number of deep progressions is middling (the 51st percentile). But, despite this, he ranks in the 75th percentile in OBV for passing and the 99th percentile for open play xA. So, why is this the case? One problem is that Seo doesn’t look very comfortable receiving the ball under pressure. If he gets the ball with a player on his back, he is very likely to just play it backwards rather than play his way out of trouble. He could also do a much better job of moving off the ball to make space for himself. Seo has a tendency to hide in possession, allowing himself to be shadowed by opponents too easily. Stronger skills in tight spaces and better off-ball movement would immediately make him a much more interesting player. I do think that there is some reason for optimism, however. Off-ball movement is something that can be improved through coaching. Seo also has some decent dribbling and carrying ability, doing well at pushing the ball forward in transition. He is in the 87th percentile for dribbling and carrying OBV amongst K-League midfielders. So, if he can start to apply those skills in tighter spaces, he could improve.

Seo’s defensive contributions are fairly limited. He is in the 3rd percentile (not a percentile you want to be in) for both tackles & interceptions and pressures. He is also only in the 32nd percentile for dribbled past %. All of this matches up quite well with the eye test. Seo’s defensive positioning is generally good, but when it comes time to actually do anything, he is a bit of a pylon. This makes some of his on-ball struggles a little harder to stomach. A player with very little defensive contribution and only sporadic brilliance in possession is probably going to struggle at a higher level.

Despite the struggles outlined in this support, I still think Seo could be a player worth monitoring for clubs in Europe. His moments of brilliance are very real, even if they are not quite frequent enough. We should remember that he has only recently made the jump to the Korean top flight and will still be adjusting to the faster pace of play. He’s also playing for a recently promoted side, which plays something of a low event defensive style. He might have a bit more scope to show what he can do in a freer-flowing team. I think mid-table teams in the Belgian Pro League should be monitoring Seo to see if he can have a more consistent impact as the K-League season progresses.