Kim Min-jae has been on the radar network of Thomas Tuchel and Bayern Munich for a long time.체스카지노
Germany’s TZ said on the 20th (Korean time), “Tuchel put Min-jae Kim on the radar even in 2021, when he was coach of Chelsea,” and “overcome competition with Premier League teams such as Manchester United and Newcastle United and recruited Min-jae Kim.” Germany’s Bilt also admitted, “Munich has been watching Min-jae Kim since he played for Fenerbahce.”
Tuchel, who is currently in charge of Munich command tower, was leading Premier League Chelsea at the time of 2021. He lifted the UEFA (European Football Federation) Champions League toward Chelsea, who had sacked Frank Lampard due to poor grades, and led Chelsea to third place in the league in the 2021/22 season.
Kim Min-jae left Guoan, Beijing, China in the summer of 2021 and joined Turkiye Fenerbahce to digest the 2021/22 season. Kim Min-jae, who played an active role as the league’s top center back at Fenerbahce, was immediately caught by Tuchel’s eyes. Kim Min-jae was a talent that could not but be coveted even in the eyes of Tuchel, who coached numerous world-class defenders through Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea.
However, Tuchel left Chelsea at the beginning of last season due to poor performance. He was unemployed for nearly six months before taking the Munich baton in March. The situation itself to recruit Kim Min-jae was not prepared.
Munich also had been keeping an eye on Kim Min-jae for two years. According to Bild, the Munich scout team has been constantly watching Min-jae Kim, who was active every day at Fenerbahce.
However, at the time, Kim Min-jae was an Asian player who had just entered the European stage, and was not verified in the big leagues. In fact, when Kim Min-jae left Fenerbahce last summer, the teams that showed the most active interest were Stade Rennes in France and Napoli in Italy. Both teams were far from the best in Europe.
Kim Min-jae headed to Naples. He was to fill the void left by Callie do Koulibaly who left for Chelsea. At that time, the person who wanted Koulibaly was Tuhel. Koulibaly also left for Chelsea after playing as a key center back in Naples, and Kim Min-jae took over and filled the vacant position.
While Koulibaly struggled, Kim Min-jae was on a winning streak. He scored his debut goal with a header just two games after joining Napoli. Using his tall height and quick feet, he not only took control of the air, but also covered the back space well. He even advanced to a high position or connected forward with an accurate pass. It was perfect for Naples football, which raised the defensive line high.
Based on this performance, he was awarded the Serie A Player of the Month for September. He wasn’t flashy. It continued steadily through the end of the season. He led Napoli to its first league championship in 33 years since the 1989/90 season, and in the Champions League, helped the club reach the quarterfinals, the club’s best record ever. Serie A Defender of the Year and Team of the Year, Kim Min-jae was evaluated as an indispensable Napoli player along with main striker Victor Osimen.
Naturally, interest from big clubs began to emerge. It started with Manchester United. After Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane, United are looking for another outstanding centre-back. Victor Lindelof or Harry Maguire were judged to be unsuitable as backup resources.
Even in Italy, Min-jae Kim was highly likely to move to Manchester United. However, Manchester United could not jump into the transfer market due to the club takeover problem. Manchester City, which was expected to play Manchester United over the field Manchester derby over Kim Min-jae, made Croatian defender Yoshko Gbardiol their top priority.
At this time, Munich, which had been constantly watching Kim Min-jae, appeared. Munich was put in a situation where it had to find a new player as Lucas Hernandez, the previous main center back, was linked to Paris Saint-Germain in France.
There was a situation where Tuhell, who had been watching Kim Min-jae for a while, was the director. Since Munich was also keeping an eye on Kim Min-jae, they quickly started recruiting. Unlike a year ago, Min-jae Kim had completed verification in the big leagues, and several teams were rushing in, and the buyout amount set by Napoli was only 50 million euros (approximately 71 billion won), so there was a risk of being taken away by other teams if it was too late.
Munich tried to prevent such a situation in advance. From the recruiting process, he was passionate about Kim Min-jae and did his best. After finding out that Kim Min-jae was entering the training center for military training, he quickly reached an individual agreement. He even dispatched team medical staff to Korea to conduct a medical test in time for Kim Min-jae’s discharge date.
The reason Munich rushed through the medical test was because the buyout set by Napoli was temporarily in effect from July 1st to 15th. Rather than waiting for Kim Min-jae to fly to Germany after a break after completing military training, Munich dispatched a medical team to take care of it in Korea.
During this process, he showed sincerity in preparing a small uniform for his daughter, a teddy bear, and even a letter in Korean. In the letter prepared by Munich, it was written in Korean, “I am very happy to be a member of the family of Munich and FC Bayern.” It was a part that showed how sincere Munich was to Kim Min-jae.
After the medical, he issued a buyout to Napoli for 50 million euros as scheduled. Although the official was a little late due to coordination with Napoli in the chronological contribution part, the news of Kim Min-jae’s recruitment was finally announced to the world through the official website on the 19th.
Tuhel, who had wanted Kim Min-jae, jumped out with socks as soon as Kim Min-jae arrived at the Tegernze training camp and welcomed him fiercely. In the video shared by Munich, Tuhell hugged Kim Min-jae and looked at her cheeks, saying, “Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. You will be able to do well here.”
In an interview with the local media, he did not hide his expectations, saying, “Kim Min-jae is a real man. He is tall and has quick feet. I am very happy that he came here. Looking at his career, it is unusual, but it shows that he has proven his ability.”