Kim Min-jae arrives in Europe's 'Big Five' with Serie A club Napoli

Football

Published: 28 Jul. 2022, 15:52

Kim Min-jae arrives in Europe's 'Big Five' with Serie A club Napoli

Kim Min-jae poses in a Napoli shirt after signing with the Italian Serie A club on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Korean center back Kim Min-jae joined Italian Serie A club Napoli on Wednesday, leaving Turkish club Fenerbahce after one year playing in the Super Lig.

”SSC Napoli have announced that they have signed Kim Minjae from Fenerbahce SK on a permanent deal,” the club said in a brief statement published on the official website, before going on to list Kim’s career experience.

The announcement came one day after Kim arrived in Rome to undergo a medical exam for the Serie A club.

Kim's arrival in Napoli ends a long transfer saga that has seen the formidable defender linked with Napoli, French club Rennes and at least one Premier League club during this summer transfer window.

According to reports, Kim is under contract with Napoli until 2025, with the club retaining the option to extend the deal for two more years. Napoli paid 19.5 million euros ($20 million) to Fenerbahce to trigger Kim’s release clause, and have included a 45-million-euro release clause in his new contract.

Kim Min-jae performs Psy's ″Gangnam Style″ for his teammates at the club's training camp in Castel di Sangro, Italy on Wednesday in a video uploaded to the official Napoli Twitter page. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Kim's arrival with Napoli was met with a lot of excitement, with even the official UEFA Champions League Twitter account announcing his signing. Napoli took a more light-hearted approach, sharing a video of Kim performing Psy's "Gangnam Style" for his teammates at the club's summer training camp in Castel di Sangro, Italy on Wednesday night.

Kim has been a trade rumor favorite for years and this summer was no exception, but there had been concerns that a recent ankle injury might take him off the market. He has returned to form, however, and has been active in Fenerbahce friendlies over the last few weeks.

Kim, nicknamed "The Monster" for his unflappable defense, joined Fenerbahce in August last year from Beijing Guoan, where he had played for two years. At the time, he had been linked to a number of top European clubs including FC Porto, Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur.

Kim is a highly rated defender who offers a formidable presence in the backline that could see him hold his own against more physical players anywhere in the world. Kim's international performance has gained him a lot of attention, especially during the 2017 Asian qualifier for the 2018 Russia World Cup.

Kim is likely to step straight into the starting lineup at Napoli, where he is expected to fill the gap created by the departure of Kalidou Koulibaly, who left the Italian club to move to Chelsea.

Kim’s arrival in Napoli could mark an important turning point for Korean football in the Italian league.

No Korean footballer has ever really made much of an impression in Serie A, with only Ahn Jung-hwan and Lee Seung-woo having actually played in the Italian top tier.

Ahn played 30 games for Perugia in the early 2000s, but his career there was sabotaged when he scored the goal that knocked Italy out of the 2002 World Cup.

Lee made 14 appearances for Verona in the 2017-18 season, before the club was relegated out of Serie A and he was eventually relegated out of European football, returning to Korea last year without a contract.

Kim is now the 10th Korean footballer active in Europe's big five leagues, alongside Premier League footballers Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur and Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers, sole La Liga star Lee Kang-in of Mallorca FC, Bundesliga players Lee Jae-sung of Mainz, Jeong Woo-yeong of Freiburg, Lee Dong-jun of Hertha Berlin, Cheon Seong-hoon of Augsburg and Lee Dong-gyeong of Schalke 04, and Suk Hyun-jun of French Ligue 1 side Troyes.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]