Lee Jae-sung (; born 10 August 1992) is a South Korean professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or winger for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

and the South Korea national team.

Club career

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Lee joined

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Jeonbuk have won the K League a record nine times, including ...

in 2014 and made his debut in the

2014 AFC Champions League The 2014 AFC Champions League was the 33rd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 12th under the current AFC Champions League title. Guangzhou Evergrande were the d ...

match against Yokohama F. Marinos on 26 February. Choi Kang-hee, the manager of Jeonbuk at the time, praised his ability which kept balance about attack and defense of team, and actively used him, the newcomer. In 2016, he spent his best season by providing 17 assists during a year and winning the

2016 AFC Champions League The 2016 AFC Champions League was the 35th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 14th under the current AFC Champions League title. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors defeated Al ...

. In the 2017 K League 1, he won the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

award after having eight goals and ten assists during 28 appearances.

Holstein Kiel

In July 2018, Lee joined 2. Bundesliga club

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., commonly known as Holstein Kiel () or KSV Holstein, is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s through the 1960s, the club was o ...

on a three-year deal until 30 June 2021. The transfer fee paid to Jeonbuk was reported as €1.5 million. He played his first game against

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

on 4 August, and was named the player of the matchday by leaving a deep impression on '' kicker'' with two assists. After the end of the 2019–20 season, his goal against

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...

was selected as Kiel's Goal of the Season. On 13 January 2021, he played full time and scored the fourth penalty in a

2020–21 DFB-Pokal The 2020–21 DFB-Pokal was the 78th season of the annual German Association football, football cup competition. Sixty-four teams participated in the competition, including all teams from the previous year's Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga. The compe ...

match, where Kiel won 6–5 on penalties after drawing 2–2 against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. Afterwards, Kiel reached the semi-finals of DFB-Pokal for the first time in history, but they were eliminated by

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

. Kiel also finished third in the 2020–21 2. Bundesliga, qualifying for the promotion play-off. In the two-legged play-off, Lee scored a goal and provided an assist, contributing to all two of Kiel's goals, but they lost 5–2 on aggregate to

Köln Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Mainz 05

In July 2021, Lee joined

club

on a three-year deal until 30 June 2024. Lee was named the player of the 22nd matchday by ''kicker'' after dominating

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

including a goal and an assist on 24 February 2023. In that month, he was nominated for the Bundesliga Player of the Month by leading Mainz to three Bundesliga victories as well as having three goals and two assists, but lost to Julian Brandt. He was also nominated for the Bundesliga Team of the Season because of his steady performance during the 2022–23 season, but failed to be selected. Lee seemed lethargic while Mainz earned only one win in the first half of the 2023–24 season, but he played a key role in saving his team from relegation during the second half of the season. Lee scored two goals in a 2–1 win over Bayern Munich on 14 December 2024, leading Bayern to their first defeat in the

2024–25 Bundesliga The 2024–25 Bundesliga was the 62nd season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier men's Association football, football competition. The season began on 23 August 2024 and concluded on 17 May 2025. Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bayer Leverkusen were the def ...

. During the 2024–25 season, he had seven goals and six assists (ten assists according to the standard of ''kicker'') in 33 league appearances, helping Mainz qualify for the

2025–26 UEFA Conference League The 2025–26 UEFA Conference League will be the fifth season of the UEFA Conference League, Europe's tertiary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA. This will be the second UEFA Conference League played under a new ...

International career

In the 2017 EAFF Championship, Lee led South Korea's title, and was named the Most Valuable Player and the Best Duel Player. Lee was named in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

's squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

, and played all three games in the group stage. He also participated in the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, helping South Korea advance to the knockout stage.

Style of play

Lee possessed the ball for a short time, and showed great influence when moving without the ball. He preferred passing in a fast tempo to carrying, and had a high work rate to preoccupy suitable spots. His movement was also skilled in interceptions when defending.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lee goal.''

Honours

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors *

K League 1 The K League 1 () is a professional association football league in South Korea and the highest level of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. It is one of the most successful leagues in the Asian Foo ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

South Korea U23 *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

South Korea * EAFF Championship:

Individual * K League 1 Best XI:

* K League 1 Young Player of the Year:

All-Star Squad:

Opta Best XI:

* K League 1 Most Valuable Player:

* EAFF Championship Most Valuable Player:

Goal of the Season: 2019–20

References

External links

Profile
at the 1. FSV Mainz 05 website *
Lee Jae-sung – National Team stats
at KFA *
Lee Jae-sung
at Asian Games Incheon 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jae-sung 1992 births Living people Footballers from Ulsan Men's association football midfielders South Korean men's footballers South Korea men's international footballers South Korea men's under-23 international footballers Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games footballers for South Korea Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 AFC Asian Cup players Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors players Holstein Kiel players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players K League 1 players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Korea University alumni South Korean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Germany 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 AFC Asian Cup players AFC Champions League Elite–winning players 21st-century South Korean sportsmen Asian Games gold medalists in football