Dunamu sponsorship deal lands Upbit logo on Napoli shirts

From left: Napoli's Silva Duarte Mario Rui, Amir Rrahmani, Kim Min-jae and captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo pose in Napoli shirt featuring the logo of cryptocurrency exchange Upbit. [DUNAMU]

Korean fintech company Dunamu are the new shirt sponsors of Italian football club Napoli SSC, with the logo of the company’s cryptocurrency exchange Upbit set to appear below the number on the back of the Partenopei uniform.

The Upbit logo will appear on the back of the Napoli shirt in all friendly, Serie A and Coppa Italia games, Dunamu announced in a press release Tuesday. The sponsorship deal will also see the company’s logo appearing on advertising boards around the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples, Italy.

Napoli are the current Serie A leaders, remaining undefeated at home throughout the 2022-23 season. They’ve lost just one game across all competitions, to Liverpool in the second leg of a Champions League clash that proved entirely immaterial in terms of their chance of advancing out of the group stage.

At the heart of the Napoli lineup is Korean center-back Kim Min-jae.

Kim signed for Napoli in late July, made his debut in August and was named Serie A Player of the Month for September. He scored two goals in his first few weeks, making him already the second-highest scoring Korean ever to play in the top Italian league.

Now deep into the season there are only two domestically undefeated teams in Europe’s big five: Napoli and PSG. One of those teams has household names like Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi, the other has Kim, Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Napoli reportedly signed Kim for about 18 million euros and five months later they won’t even consider selling for less than 50 million euros. There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of potential buyers, with Manchester United among the many teams said to be desperate to make an offer, but Kim doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere any time soon.

Considering that remarkable success and the legions of Korean fans flocking to the Partenopei banner, it comes as little surprise that a Korean company has been quick to jump on the seemingly unstoppable Napoli bandwagon.

The Upbit logo will make its first appearance on the Napoli shirt on Wednesday as the Naples club takes on Inter Milan in their first Serie A game after the World Cup break. Whether Napoli can return to their unstoppable pre-Qatar form remains to be seen — on Dec. 21 the club took an uncharacteristic 4-1 loss in a friendly against French club LOSC Lille.

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