Han Kwang-song is the North Korean striker who is a target for Juventus after impressing in Italy - but he is under orders from Kim Jong-un... and are his wages funding an enemy state?
As one of
Italy's most promising young footballers, Cagliari striker Han Kwang-song should have the world at his feet and a bright future ahead of him.
Having burst on to the scene last season in
Serie A, Han has thrived during a loan spell at Perugia in the second tier this campaign attracting
Juventus' interest in the process. Always first in the queue for the finest prospects, the Old Lady are reportedly close to sealing a summer transfer for the teenager.
Han is already a full international at just 19 years old with two caps for his country.
The only problem for Han is - that country is
North Korea.
Leader Kim Jong-un wants North Korea to become a genuine force in world football and Han is central to the dictator's plans, the youngster they have pinned a nation's hopes on to fire them to glory.
Born in the capital Pyongyang, Han was a sensation from an early age and was sent to a football academy in Barcelona at just 13. He returned to his homeland with FC Chobyong before impressing at the 2015 Under-17 World Cup in Chile.
Italian senator Antonio Razzi, close friends with Kim Jong-un, invited Han to participate at the prestigious ISM Academy in Italy.
A successful trial at Cagliari followed and last season Han broke into the first-team and became the first North Korean to score in Serie A in just his second appearance.
But there is a political cloud hanging over Han which threatens to derail his career before it's even started.
After scoring a hat-trick on the opening weekend of the Serie B season for Perugia, completing the treble with a deft side-footed volley, Han netted in his next appearance against Pescara.
The early-season form saw him invited on to the popular sports show La Domenica Sportiva, with the Italian public keen to know more about the latest teen sensation.
But just hours before Han was due to drive up to the television studio in Milan he received a call from one of Kim Jong-un's henchmen demanding that he cancel his appearance.
'A call from a not very clear ministry figure arrived and it blocked everything,' Perugia president Massimiliano Santopadre told
La Stampa. 'Negotiating was impossible because Pyongyang want to talk only and exclusively with Han.
'The situation with their government has become even more rigid and their footballers have been prohibited from appearing on TV, otherwise they would have repatriated him. Han is scared.'
Serious questions have also been raised over whether Cagliari should be paying Han's wages given that the vast majority of his pay-packet is reportedly being sent back home.
North Korea laws dictate that the wages of any citizen working outside the national borders belong to their government. Therefore by paying Han's wages, Cagliari are indirectly funding an enemy state.
Just last year, Italy became the fifth country to expel the North Korean ambassador over the dictatorship's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Cagliari insist Han's wages are being paid directly to him but claim they cannot account for what the player does with them afterwards. Should Juventus sign Han and double or treble his wages, the issue will become even more pressing.
Fiorentina were forced to withdraw their contract offer to highly-rated North Korean starlet Choe Song-hyok last year after accusations that they were funding the authoritarian government's nuclear weapons programme by paying his salary.
After Fiorentina had Choe's contract terminated with the help of the Italian government, the striker signed for Perugia where he now shares a dressing room with his compatriot Han.
For Cagliari and Juventus, Choe's saga represents a reminder of the political minefield involved when signing a North Korean footballer.
at North Korea using footballers to take over the world like Zoolander.
