Kim Min-jae named AFC Asian International Player of the Year

Bayern Munich's Kim Min-jae warms up before a match against Darmstadt at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on Saturday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Kim Min-jae was named the AFC Asian International Player of the Year on Tuesday after winning the Scudetto with Napoli last season.

Now with Bayern Munich, Kim is the second Korean to take the annual award presented by the Asian Football Confederation for the top Asian player in a foreign competition. Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min has won the award three times: In 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Kim joined Napoli in July last year from Turkish club Fenerbahce after a year in the Super Lig, filling a gap left by Kalidou Koulibaly’s departure for Chelsea. Kim immediately fitted into the lineup, earning Serie A Player of the Month honors in September and going on to be a regular starter in the first Napoli squad to win a Serie A title in more than 30 years.

By the end of the season, Kim had racked up a string of accolades, taking Player of the Month twice — in September from Serie A and in October from the Italian Footballer’s Association — Serie A best defender for the season, Serie A team of the season and even the European Sports Media’s continental team of the season.

That single season also made Kim the most successful Korean footballer ever to play in Serie A, and triggered an arms race over the summer as top clubs fought to trigger Kim’s narrow release clause while Napoli looked to shut that door for good.

Bayern obviously won that race, beating long-term rivals Manchester United who had been linked to a possible Kim move since last year. Tottenham Hotspur were also in the mix, having tried to buy Kim years ago when he was based in China, but failed to seriously challenge Bayern’s bid.

The Napoli season also saw him earn a nomination for the Ballon d’Or. He finished 22nd in the top football award ranking on Monday this week, making him the second-highest finishing Asian footballer ever after Son.

Since arriving in the Bundesliga, Kim’s career has continued to go from strength to strength. He has now played the full 90 minutes in all nine league games this season and his stats are such that this week alone he was named to statistics accumulator WhoScored.com’s Bundesliga Team of the Month.

Kim, nicknamed “The Monster” for his unflappable defense, is now playing in his fourth league since leaving Korea. He first moved to China with Beijing Guoan, before joining Fenerbahce in Turkey in 2021. At the time, he had already been linked to a number of top European clubs including FC Porto, Juventus and Tottenham.

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. He is a regular in the Korean national team and has even taken the armband on occasion, leading the defensive line as Son leads the offense.

Kim was the only Korean winner at the AFC awards in Doha, Qatar this year. The awards were canceled for the last three years due to Covid-19, with Son the most recent winner of the Asian International Player of the Year award.

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