EPL Teams Courting South Korean Defender Kim Min-jae from Napoli

English Premier League (EPL) teams are showing keen interest in Kim Min-jae (26, Naples). Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is said to have started courting her.

British media ‘Team Talk’ reported on the 14th (Korean time), “Man City is ahead of local rivals Manchester United in the competition to recruit Kim Min-jae.”

According to the media, manager Pep Guardiola is working to strengthen the defense in the upcoming summer transfer market and is making the recruitment of Kim Min-jae a top priority. Currently, Manchester City has world-class centre-backs such as Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, John Stones and Emric Laporte. Man City plans to further strengthen the central defensive line by recruiting Kim Min-jae.

Previously, local media reported that Manchester United was the most advanced in the match for Kim Min-jae, and that they had “already started negotiations.” On the 13th, French media ‘Foot Mercato’ said, “Man Utd has already started negotiations with Kim Min-jae. We promised Kim Min-jae the best treatment in the team.”

Currently, Manchester United are in a bad situation at centre-back. This is the reason why they are trying to bring Kim Min-jae, who boasts Europe’s top skills, by spending a large amount of money. Raphael Baran, the core of the defense, has been absent from injury many times, and Harry Maguire is infuriating fans with fatal mistakes at every crucial moment.

Team Talk said, “Not only Manchester City and Manchester United, but also Chelsea are interested in Kim Min-jae.” “Chelsea are using the 1-2 trade of centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly and striker Christian Pulisic to induce negotiations,” he said. Coincidentally, Kim Min-jae moved to Napoli as a replacement for Koulibaly when he left for Chelsea. Less than a year later, Chelsea are looking to trade Koulibaly for Kim Min-jae.

As such, EPL teams that are ahead in capital power are actively showing interest in Kim Min-jae. It is said that Kim Min-jae’s defensive power, which combines strength and speed, can work well in the EPL.

Meanwhile, Team Talk introduced Kim Min-jae’s performance this season in detail. The media explained, “Kim Min-jae played in 33 Serie A matches this season and contributed to Napoli winning the league early for the first time in 33 years since 1990.” did.

Kim Min-jae entered the Serie A stage just before this season, but he was immediately put into the starting lineup without even needing an adaptation period and performed outstandingly in every game. He has emerged as one of the league’s top centre-backs and is receiving keen interest from prestigious European teams.

Accordingly, Kim Min-jae’s soaring buyout is also a concern. While it is natural that Napoli will sell Kim Min-jae, the core of the team, as expensive as possible, British media ‘Sky Sports’ estimated Kim Min-jae’s buyout (minimum amount possible for transfer) to be up to 53 million pounds (approximately 88 billion won). With Kim Min-jae’s possibility of entering the EPL growing, fans’ expectations are growing as to which team’s uniform he will wear next season.

[저작권자 @머니투데이, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]