England’s Premier League club Liverpool has joined the line of teams interested in Ki Sung-yueng, the Korean midfielder with Celtic.

European soccer website TribalFootball reported on Tuesday that Liverpool and Queens Park Rangers both want to lure the Korean international to the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Russian club Rubin Kazan, whose bid for Ki was unsuccessful, attempted to play down their interest in the 23-year-old.

“This has nothing to do with reality and they want to make the price of the player more expensive,” TribalFootball quoted Rubin spokesman Maksim Lupuchov as saying. 

The Russian side has coveted Ki for more than a year, and still is the most persistent about landing him. Rubin Kazan had offered a 6 million pounds ($9.4 million) to Celtic, which was rejected in January. But they have not given up and will test Celtic’s resolve with an offer of around 7 million pounds this week, The Daily Record, a Scottish newspaper, said.

Local media speculate Celtic must have a reason to show a high-handed attitude over the transfer of Ki. Ki has about a year and a half remaining with Celtic, which is in need of funds to rebuild the team. If Ki goes, boss Neil Leoon could use the cash to add more quality to the squad.

In August 2011, it was reported that Premiership sides Blackburn Rovers, Tottenham Hotspur and several clubs were interested in signing Ki, but soon after the news surfaced of the transfer, Celtic issued a hands-off warning to the interested clubs.

Ki joined Celtic from FC Seoul during the January transfer window in 2010 at the end of the K-League season. He has made 85 appearances for the Bhoys. His playing style, marked by long range passing and shooting and high-quality set pieces, has earned him the title of the “Korean Steven Gerrard.”

Over the course of the 2011-2012 campaign, Ki scored 7 goals and had 6 assists, playing a key role in helping Celtic win the Scottish title.

He also won the Korean Player of the Year award from the Korean Football Association in December 2011.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)