Kim Min-jae made a mark in Napoli’s victory in Germany. He was the player who completed the most successful passes (125), touched the ball the most (148 times) in the match. The Korean player also only has to receive an expected danger index (tR) at 0.02, with a pass accuracy rate of 94.7%.
The Napoli star is also the winner of the most aerial duels (12 times) and the most successful tackles (4 times) in a match at Deutsche Bank Park. He also made seven clearances in the entire game, the most of any player on the field. In the first half, Kim Min-jae made 30 passes to the opponent, the most in a Champions League game this season.
Kim Min-jae’s impressive form plays an important role in helping Napoli fly high in Serie A and the Champions League this season. He started in all matches of the home team Diego Maradona in Europe this season. In the Italian league, the player born in 1996 started 22 matches after 23 rounds.
At the age of 26, Kim Min-jae is among the best central defenders in Europe this season. Before the match between AS Roma and Napoli in the 20th round of Serie A late last month, coach Jose Mourinho confirmed that he had known the talent of the Korean midfielder since he was still at Fenerbahce.
Mourinho revealed: “I wanted to sign Kim Min-Jae when I was at Tottenham. I had a number of calls with him – our initial bid was 5 million euros, Fenerbahce wanted 10 million euros and then after that, we offered him 5 million euros, Fenerbahce wanted 10 million euros. Tottenham couldn’t pay the money they asked for. Now look at Kim, he’s a top centre-back.”
The central defender of the Korean team is on the radar of major European clubs. Cristiano Giuntoli, Napoli director, admits there is a release clause in Kim Min-jae’s contract, but only for foreign clubs and takes effect in the first 15 days of July.
Kim Min-jae’s contract is valid until 2025 and the leading Serie A team wants to extend it with him. The Korean midfielder just arrived at Napoli for 18 million euros in the summer of 2022, to replace Kalidou Koulibaly moving to Chelsea.
Previously, Fenerbahce spent 3 million euros to bring Kim Min-jae back from Beijing Guoan (Beijing Guoan) in the summer transfer window of 2021. Kim Min-jae was nicknamed “Monster” by the media and fans thanks to 1.9 m tall, the ability to fight the ball fiercely, choose a good position to catch the ball and be confident when holding the ball.
Hong An | 20:30 22/02/2023
