July saw South Korea captain Son Heung-min and his Tottenham Hotspur teammates take their pre-season tour in the direction of the Peninsular to play two friendlies ahead of the 2022/23 English Premier League season. As part of the Coupang Play Series, Spurs first opened their tour with a match against K League's finest at a sold-out Seoul World Cup Stadium and streamed online for viewers at home via Coupang Play and Tottenham's own Spurs TV channel.

The match proved an end-to-end affair, with the Premier League side running out eventual 6-3 winners, yet they were made to work for it after finding themselves 1-1 at the break. Team K League, consisting of two players from each K League 1 side and managed by Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors head coach Kim Sang-sik and assisted by Suwon FC boss Kim Do-kyun, found joy through impressive efforts from Gimcheon Sangmu's Cho Gue-seung, Suwon FC's Lars Veldwijk and Ulsan Hyundai's Jun Amano. However, after being reduced to ten men, the hosts were unable to withstand the talent at Spurs' disposal with goalscorers including Harry Kane and Son Heung-min picking up a brace each in the second half. Despite this, it proved a valiant effort and an enjoyable spectacle that certainly left supporters entertained.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors' Brazilian Gustavo striker picked up the EA Sports Player of the Month prize for July with some stunning performances to help keep his side in title contention. Having seen his strike partner Stanislav Iljutcenko make a summer transfer to Seoul, Gustavo was required to step up to the goal-scoring mantle, bagging four goals and an assist to help his club make it four wins and a draw in five matches for the month. This is Gustavo's first award for the season, having finished joint third in last year's Golden Boot race, scoring 15 goals.

Young Gangwon FC attacker Yang Hyun-jun continued his run of fine summer form with a performance against Suwon FC that saw him score twice and assist once in a 4-2 victory. The Gatorade G Moment that caught fans' attention, in particular, was his second against Suwon. With his side level two goals apiece, an excellent through ball from Kim Dae-won caught the darting run of Yang between the defenders before the 20-year-old calmly slotted past the 'keeper to hand his side the advantage once more in the tie.

Steering Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors through an unbeaten run of five games in July, dropping just two points along the way, Kim Sang-sik was awarded the Paradise City Manager of the Month award. Wins against Gimcheon Sangmu, FC Seoul, Jeju United and Seongnam FC, plus a draw against a high-flying Incheon United outfit, ensured Jeonbuk kept of the tail of league leaders Ulsan Hyundai in a busy summer. 

The award is Kim's first this season and follows him being awarded the league's Manager of the Year trophy for the 2021 season where he claimed the title in his first campaign as a head coach.

After dazzling throughout June, Yang Hyun-jun took his fine form a step further with some impressive performances to seal the Lemona Young Player of the Month Award for July, making it consecutive awards for the Gangwon attacker. Yang scored three times in July and assisted twice to help steer his side away from the danger zone and into the relative safety of mid-table. The month even saw the youngster earn praise for his role against Tottenham Hotspur as some mazy runs through the Premier League defence caught the eye of both his Team K League teammates as well as his opponents.

"I was at Perth Glory back in the A-League and I've always had ambitions to come to Asia, whether it be Korea or somewhere else. And this opportunity kind of arose just off the back of a few games and obviously, the window lining up and Perth Glory were good enough to let me go for a small fee. So yeah, I just wanted to give it a crack. And so at the end of my career, I can have no regrets, saying that, you know, I didn't try it or whatever. So yeah, that was the main thing, and it's still a very good level of football, if not maybe even better, so yeah. Can't complain at all."

"I was actually playing with Brendan O'Neill, who just recently played for Pohang at the time, he was that Perth Glory with me, and he's a really close friend. So I had a good chat to him about it. Connor Chapman, who I've played with before, and he's been here for quite a few years. There was another one, Matty Jurman who I used to play with as well. So yeah, there's a few boys that I know that they've just said: 'Yeah, mate, you've got to do it'. And even Alex Wilkinson who was pretty successful here at Jeonbuk. I played with him when we won the Grand Final and he's someone that I've kind of tried to imitate my game off, I guess. I had a chat to him about it and he just said to me go so it was a no-brainer."