Aheed Abrar
Newcastle United and Manchester United ‘interested’ in Napoli defender Kim Min-jae
Manchester United and Premier League rivals Newcastle United are ‘interested’ in Napoli defender Kim Min-jae, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano on Twitter.
The South Korean international has enjoyed a stellar campaign with the Partenopei this season. Now, the Red Devils, as well as the Magpies, are looking to acquire the centre-back’s services ahead of the upcoming transfer window.
Last summer, the 26-year-old joined the Serie A giants from Fenerbahce. He was bought as a replacement for Kalidou Koulibaly, who joined Chelsea around the same time.
Manchester United and Newcastle are interested in Kim-Min Jae, clause will be valid in July. 👀🇰🇷
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 28, 2023
Spalletti: “I hope Kim will stay at Napoli because he’s incredible. He’s the best CB in Serie A. I guess he has kind of push notifications on his phone when the ball is around…”. pic.twitter.com/g8u3CglBkK
Min-jae has not let the Senegal international’s absence at the Italian outfit be felt. The defender has been impressive and has become a key player for the Naples-based club.
Napoli have won the Scudetto after over three decades without it. The Partenopei have been above the rest in the league. To that end, the South Korean has been a key cog in Luciano Spalletti’s plans.
Newcastle have enjoyed an impressive term and have relied on Sven Botman and Fabian Schar at the back. On the other hand, at Man United, the partnership of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez has been solid. The two World Cup winners have been Erik ten Hag’s preferred duo in defence.
Unfortunately, the Argentine was ruled out for the rest of the season after picking up an injury in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Sevilla.
Since then, Victor Lindelof has enjoyed regular minutes in the backline. As for Harry Maguire, he has been unable to put in encouraging displays and has fallen down the pecking order further over the course of the season.
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Therefore, it is not improbable to think that our skipper will try to look for pastures new in the coming months. If that does happen, we will need to add reinforcements in the backline. Min-jae looks like a quality option to have our eyes on to bolster the defence.
