Mallorca refuse to consider Lee Kang-in deal despite multiple offers: Reports

Mallorca's Lee Kang-in reacts during a La Liga match between RCD Mallorca and CA Osasuna at El Sadar Stadium in Pamplona on Jan. 14. [EPA/YONHAP]

Lee Kang-in looks set to spend the rest of the season in Mallorca, with the La Liga side said to be refusing to entertain a transfer despite reported offers from Aston Villa, Brighton and an unnamed Spanish club.

According to Spanish reports Wednesday, Mallorca have been unwilling to entertain deals from multiple clubs, with Brighton and Aston Villa both making offers said to be over £10 million ($12.14 million).

Lee reportedly has a 17-million-euro ($18 million) buy-out clause, a sum that none of the offers on the table are believed to have met. Mallorca are likely holding out for that clause to be met, although some reports suggest Lee is keen to move sooner and is frustrated by the club’s inaction.

Lee joined Mallorca two years ago after a decade in Valencia and has been having a particularly good season, scoring two goals and picking up four assists so far and earning a player of the month nomination along the way.

Lee has established himself an especially effective playmaker, using fancy footwork to beat defenders and his impressive accuracy to get the ball up to the front.

That skill was on display in Qatar, where he very quickly made a name for himself, appearing in all four games and making a mark in his World Cup debut against Uruguay, when Lee and Cho Gue-sung came on as late substitutes and immediately breathed new life into a flagging team.

Against Ghana, Lee came on in the 57th minute and within less than a minute he had driven a beautiful cross into the box for Cho to head home.

That one-minute assist likely turned more than a few heads in Europe’s big five leagues, where attention has already been on the young midfielder. It also earned Lee a spot on the list of youngest assist providers at the Qatar World Cup, coming in as the fourth youngest.

Lee has only ever played for two clubs, both in Spain. He has long been a fan favorite back home, where he has been seen as the future of Korean football since starring on TV show “Fly Shoot Dori” at just six years old.

He moved to Valencia a few years after that appearance and spent 10 years in the academy before being dropped last year and moving to Mallorca.

Lee joined Valencia in 2011 and made the move up to the A team in 2018. In the 2020-21 season, Lee made 27 appearances for the club, many of them from the bench, but scored only one goal. But his failure to establish himself at the club was seen as more of a case of untapped potential than a lack of skill, and the team was slated in the Spanish press for failing to use him to his full potential.

Newcastle, Championship side Burnley and Dutch club Feyenoord have all also been linked to the young Korean star, although if Mallorca continue to refuse to consider a deal he may have no choice but to wait until the summer for a move.

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