Lee Kangin, give it to me! EPL Club '105 billion'Extra-large offer...But PSG's flat refusal 'Kangin is our player'

Jul 16, 2024

An anonymous English Premier League club has offered a huge offer of 70 million euros to recruit Lee Kang-in. Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) rejected the offer without even considering it. However, in Italy, there were also reports that Lee Kang-in was on the release list to bring Victor Osimhen from PSG. Photo = PSG

Recently, an anonymous English Premier League (EPL) club reportedly sent a huge offer to recruit Lee Kang-in.

French foot Mercato said on the 16th (Korea time) 'Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) received a considerable offer for South Korea's attacking midfielder Lee Kang-in. PSG, which is making a transfer fee to replace Kylian Mbappe, who left for Real Madrid, has received a huge offer for Lee Kang-in. The name has not yet been released, but an EPL club has offered Lee Kang-in 70 million euros (about 105.6 billion won)," the report said.

However, PSG immediately rejected the offer for Lee Kang-in. Foot Mercato said 'Attacking midfielder Lee Kang-in, who scored three goals and four goals in 23 games in French Ligue 1 last season, seems to have persuaded PSG leadership. PSG has already rejected this offer from the EPL club. It's because he wanted Lee Kang-in to stay."

What this transfer rumor shows is that an anonymous EPL club interested in Lee Kang-in is unconditionally a big club. Even if EPL clubs have a lot of money, very few teams can spend 70 million euros per player. 70 million euros is a huge offer, with Tottenham's highest transfer fee ever being 60 million euros (about 90.5 billion won).

The possibility of Tottenham offering €70 million, which exceeds the club's all-time record fee, to sign a player this summer is zero. Then there are only Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool left. Newcastle, which has Saudi Arabian capital on its back, has recently been excluded because it has no choice but to actively recruit players to balance its books.

In other words, the offer came from an EPL mega club that can challenge to win right away, and PSG boldly decided to protect Lee Kang-in. It would not be an easy no for PSG either. When PSG recruited Lee Kang-in last summer, the transfer fee was 22 million euros (about 33.2 billion won).

PSG stayed Lee Kang-in even though it was able to leave twice as much as the transfer fee spent by selling Lee Kang-in in a year. In PSG's view, Lee Kang-in's value is higher than 70 million euros.

Lee Kang-in also did not want to leave PSG. Foot Mercato said 'According to our information, Lee Kang-in feels very good at PSG and does not want to leave the French capital for the time being' Finally, the above media shed light on the remarks that PSG coach Luis Enrique praised about Lee Kang-in last season.

At the time, Enrique said, `Lee Kang-in may be a little unfamiliar to people who don't watch La Liga in Spain, but he is very important to our team. He can also see right wingers and left wingers. He has technical capabilities and sacrifices himself for the team through many characteristics. He is funny, nice and has everything"I once praised him.

Surprisingly, however, on the same day, there were reports that PSG may release Lee Kang-in to bring Victor Osimhen. Gianluca Di Margio, an expert on the Italian transfer market "As recently reported, the club that is most interested in Osimhen at the moment is still PSG. Agent Osimhen was in Paris, France, on the 15th"PSG's interest in Osimhen was reported.

The intention of PSG is to include players in the recruitment process. The player currently being considered is midfielder Carlos Soler from Valencia, Spain. There is also Nordi Mukiele, a French defender who played for RB Leipzig. The last is Korean winger Lee Kang-in from Valencia. Currently, Napoli are only interested in Lee Kang-in, who moved to PSG a few months ago," he added.

The two reports are completely mixed. If what Foot Mercato burst is true, PSG is considering Lee Kang-in as a key force for the future. On the other hand, if Di Margio's report is correct, PSG is currently considering sending Lee Kang-in to Naples. Depending on how quickly Osimhen's transfer to PSG takes shape, it will be clear how PSG insiders are evaluating Lee Kang-in.

Lee Kang-in did not play many games due to injuries early last season and the national team's transfer by age. Fortunately, after returning to the gold medal separately at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, Coach Enrique took the lead by giving trust to Lee Kang-in.

However, after visiting the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, Lee Kang-in's position has weakened somewhat. PSG, which has already won the league in the second half of the season, focused on winning the European Champions League (UCL), the club's major competition. The league turned the rotation and put the main players in UCL games.

At that time, Lee Kang-in started in the second round of the UCL round of 16, only the first round of the quarterfinals against Barcelona. In the second match against Barcelona, he played only 13 minutes. In the semifinals against Borussia Dortmund, he played for a total of 14 minutes in the first and second games. This is why it is considered that at the end of the season, it has been slightly pushed out of the main competition.

As PSG continues to seek aggressive recruitment, if Lee Kang-in remains at PSG, the competition for starting players next season is likely to be tougher. We need to perform much better than in the 2023-2024 season to firmly establish our position.

rlaeotlr2024@sportschosun.com

Lee Kangin, give it to me! EPL Club '105 billion'Extra-large offer...But PSG's flat refusal 'Kangin is our player'

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