Minjae Kim / GettyimagesKorea
[뉴시스] Reporter Ahn Kyung-nam = The rumors of national team’monster defender’ Kim Min-jae (25, Beijing Guoan) to advance to Europe again rose to the surface. Will Minjae Kim’s trip to Europe, who failed to escape from China despite numerous transfer rumors last year, become a reality this time?
British local media reported on Kim Min-jae’s transfer to Tottenham. Mirror said on the 15th (local time), “Tottenham is preparing to recruit South Korean defender Kim Min-jae, who showed interest last summer,” and “it may compete with London rival Chelsea.”
Another media football London summoned his national teammate Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and explained that “Last year, Son Heung-min delivered information about Kim Min-jae to the club.”
Kim Min-jae, who made his professional debut in the 2017 K-League 1, Jeonbuk Hyundai, showed remarkable growth, taking the lead in the first year. In August of that year, he wore the Taegeuk mark and held it until his A-match debut.
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Kim Min-jae, who has established himself as the best defender of the K-League in Jeonbuk, wore the Beijing Guoan uniform of the Chinese Super League with a transfer fee of 6 million dollars (about 6.6 billion won) to Jeonbuk in January 2019.
However, even after entering China, Kim Min-jae steadily showed his desire for the European stage. In fact, last year, it signed a contract with a foreign agent and promoted a transfer to Europe.
In the process, a number of clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League (EPL), Lazio (Italy), and PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), showed interest.
In particular, Kim Min-jae was spotted on Tottenham’s radar network, which was looking for a replacement for Jan Vertongen (Benfica), who left the team due to the expiration of the contract last summer. Tottenham, who showed interest in Kim Min-jae, even receiving Son Heung-min’s recommendation, tried to negotiate with the Beijing club, but was destroyed in the final stage.
Tottenham trying to lower the transfer fee and the Beijing club trying to increase the transfer fee could not find an agreement in negotiations.
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At that time, Tottenham settled 9 million pounds (about 13.5 billion won) for Kim Min-jae’s transfer fee, but Beijing is known to insist on 15 million pounds (about 22.5 billion won).
However, Kim Min-jae did not give up on entering Europe. He said on the Asian Football Federation (AFC) homepage in December last year that “playing in Europe is every player’s dream,” and “we will be able to talk about it after the season.”
It can be interpreted as going to knock on the European door once more after the season ends.
In fact, when the winter transfer market opened, Tottenham began to show interest in Kim Min-jae again. Also, London clubs such as Chelsea and Arsenal are watching Kim Min-jae.
Kim Min-jae, who has a height of 190 cm and has speed, and has experience in various international competitions, is a very attractive card for European clubs. In addition, it is highly likely to work in Europe as it is a solid physical.
Chelsea Director Frank Lampard / GettyimagesKorea
Tottenham recruited Joe Rodon from Swansea City under the championship (second division) after Kim Min-jae failed to sign, but they are not using it as a starting resource this season.
Jose Mourinho is building a central defense with Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dyer, and Davinson Sanchez. Alderweireld, who is over 30, is likely to leave Tottenham after the end of the season.
This is the reason Tottenham, who has the homework of changing the generation of defenders, is pushing for recruitment of Kim Min-jae again.
Tottenham is interested in a number of centre-backs, including Kim Min-jae, Eder Militang (Real Madrid), Milan Skriniar (Inter Milan), and Sven Botman (Lille).
Tottenham Director Jose Mourinho / GettyimagesKorea
After all, the key is the transfer fee. The ransom price of Kim Min-jae, whose contract with Beijing expires in December this year, is likely to be lower than before. Beijing, too, has to sell at least before summer in order to collect Kim Min-jae’s transfer fee.
The variable is that Beijing could not find a defensive resource to replace Kim Min-jae.
Bosnian defender Tony Schnitch, who signed in last summer, made a complete transfer to Henan Zenye. Without a new defender, Beijing could give up the transfer fee and continue to take Kim Min-jae until this season.