Lee Han-beom joins Belgian champions Club Brugge for 10.5 million euros

Defender Lee Han-beom has left FC Midtjylland for Club Brugge, the reigning Belgian champions, on a contract that runs to 2029.

Brugge announced the signing on their website on Monday and said Lee will wear No. 3. Danish media put the fee at 10.5 million Euros ($12.1 million), which includes 1.5 million Euros in add-ons. Midtjylland also negotiated a sell-on clause worth 15 percent of any future fee should Lee move on from Brugge.

That is seven times what Midtjylland paid FC Seoul for him in August 2023, when the K League 1 club let him go for 1.5 million euros. The three-year term is short for a signing of this size, which points to Brugge treating him as an immediate starter and as a player they expect to resell inside two years for at least what they paid.

Lee managed only two matches in his first season in Denmark. He took over as a starting defender in 2025-26 and made 49 appearances, and he headed in the goal that won Midtjylland the Danish Cup against FC Copenhagen in the final.

He played all three of Korea's group matches at the 2026 World Cup in full. European scouts took note of the Mexico match in particular, where he kept forward Julián Quiñones quiet. Lee also holds an exemption from Korea's mandatory military service, earned with a gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

Billed at home as the next Kim Min-jae, the 24-year-old Lee had also drawn interest from Premier League clubs. He chose Brugge instead, a step up to a side that won the Belgian league last season and will play in the Champions League this season.

Brugge have taken the Belgian title 20 times, second only to Anderlecht.

BY PARK LIN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]