Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a move for South Korean defender Kim Min-Jae once again.
The 25-year-old centre-back was heavily linked with a move to the Premier League club before he opted to join Turkish outfit Fenerbahce. Since then, he has gone on to join Italian club Napoli as a replacement for Kalidou Koulibaly, who moved to Chelsea earlier this summer.
Min-Jae has been quite impressive for the Italian club so far and he has done well in the Champions League.
According to a report from Area Napoli, Tottenham almost signed the player before he moved to Turkey and they have not given up on him just yet.
The report further states that the English club could make their move to sign the 25-year-old centre-back once again and ‘snatch him’ away from Napoli in the coming windows.
It will be interesting to see if Tottenham come forward with an offer for the South Korean when the transfer window reopens in January.
Currently, Antonio Conte is dependent on the likes of Cristian Romero, Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier, and Clement Lenglet as his centre-backs. In truth, Min-Jae could be an upgrade on most of them apart from Romero if he manages to adapt to Premier League football quickly.
Sanchez has been quite error-prone and Lenglet’s inconsistencies are well-known from his time at Barcelona.
Conte could certainly use another quality defender and the 25-year-old South Korean would be a superb long-term acquisition.
That ship has sailed.
We could have got him for less than the price of a Spence before he joined Fenerwhatsit.
Reports we were monitoring him for some time but we missed out.
Why would he leave Naples now.
Oh for a CB who absolutely commands the area like a beast.
Several sources consistently state that Min Jae is on a 45m Euro release clause. Napoli signed him at around 20m Euro.
I felt like Spurs should have taken him the first time ’round, but I understand the need for immediately ready talents. Min Jae is built sturdily for PL, strong in the air, tends to face pressure head on, unafraid of making a mistake, cerebral in possession.
Possibly a decent decision at monitoring him in a stronger league than Turkish before spending… but at a cost of an extra 25m Euro.
That’s all well above my pay grade 🙂