Latest Stoke City news as Bae Junho enjoys his first call-up to the South Korea senior international squad alongside Tottenham Hotspur hero Son Heung-min

Bae Junho insists he’s not the type of character to normally get nervous – but he suddenly legged it when his new South Korea teammates were watching him being interviewed this week.

The 20-year-old Stoke City playmaker had a big smile on his face as he ran away from the squad’s in-house media team Inside Cam and jumped on the team coach. He had just completed his first day training at senior international level ahead of a World Cup qualifier in Singapore, which will take place today (1pm).

“I’m the type of person who doesn’t get nervous in front of the camera because I do quite a few interviews, but I was nervous and nervous with the national team guys next to me,” he chuckled to Nate.com the following day. Nerves and feeling a little starstruck are new emotions for Junho, who has been groomed for stardom with the Korean team as he has come through their junior sides. He has just ended his debut year playing in England as Stoke’s player of the season and will be a big part of Steven Schumacher’s plans for 2024/25. He admitted: “When I first saw (Son) Heung-min, I felt like I was seeing a celebrity.

“From the moment we started training together I realised, ‘I’m in the senior national team.’

“Heung-min is so famous that I was worried (whether I could approach him), but when I greeted him, he said, ‘Congratulations on being selected to the national team,’ and he often spoke to me first, so I am really grateful.

“For a player in such a high position to take such care of his youngest teammates, he is someone I have a lot to learn from.”