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Kim Min-jae was very popular. However, the player himself strongly wants to stay in Bayern Munich.
Germany's TZ reported on the 9th (Korea time) 'Bayern star Kim Min-jae rejected the Saudi Arabian club's offer'
TZ said 'Kim Min-jae was considered a sellable player in Bayern until a few weeks ago. However, General Manager Max Eberle has signaled that he plans to work with Kim Min-jae, and the player also wants to wear a Bayern uniform and return to his old skills. He has already turned down a profitable offer. According to the news, Kim Min-jae recently received an offer from the Saudi club. One of them is Cristiano Ronaldo's team Alnasr and Al-Kadisya, where Nacho Fernandez was transferred, saying Kim Min-jae recently received an offer from Saudi Arabia.
Then 'Kim Min-jae was able to earn much more in salary for the two clubs than Bayern. But Kim Min-jae immediately rejected Saudi Arabia. A move to Saudi Arabia is not currently a consideration at all. Clubs from England, Spain and Italy also showed interest. Manchester United also put him on the list but pushed for a move to Matthias Diricht, and Atletico Madrid also put him on the list. It is also popular in Juventus. However, the transfer is not in Kim Min-jae's plan,' he said, explaining that Kim Min-jae wants to stay in Bayern despite Saudi Arabia's huge salary offer and European big clubs' interest.
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Kim Min-jae is currently receiving an annual salary equivalent to 12 million euros (about 17.9 billion won) from Bayern. With an annual salary far beyond this, it is likely that it was a very large contract proposal that was difficult to imagine. However, Kim Min-jae rejected Saudi Arabia's offer immediately and chose to stay in Bayern. It seems that he wanted to remain at Bayern and prove it more than a huge salary.
In particular, Kim Min-jae's attitude is similar to that of Son Heung-min, who received attention from Saudi Arabia before Kim Min-jae, but steadily refused to go to Saudi Arabia from last summer to this summer.
The Saudis have sought to bring some of Europe's top stars to Saudi Arabia since Ronaldo's move to Alnasr in December 2022. Among them, Son Heung-min was one of Saudi Arabia's consistent courtship hands. Since last summer, rumors about the Middle East have been steadily appearing, drawing great attention. At the time, England's Football Insider said Tottenham would not accept any offers for Son. Son Heung-min explained Saudi Arabia's interest and Tottenham's attitude, saying, 'I'm connecting with Saudi clubs.
At the time, British media reported that Son Heung-min was named the top target of the Saudi club this summer, and contact and plans are underway to bring Son Heung-min after this season. 'I don't know how everything will change, but Saudi Arabia's interest seemed to be successful and reportedly handed over an annual salary offer of 25 million pounds (about 42 billion won)."
However, Son Heung-min also said in June, `I always do my best for Tottenham and I will continue to do my best. He has always said that he wants to deliver something to Tottenham. I want to keep it because it's a promise I made with my fans as well as myself. I don't think we're in a situation where we're talking about a contract", dismissing the Saudi transfer theory and reportedly rejecting the contract offer. Like national team captain Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae does not seem to be very interested in going to Saudi Arabia.
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Kim Min-jae has already expressed his willingness to remain in Bayern through interviews since the end of the season. In a season-ending interview, he played with conviction all the time as a defender. But there was an internal conflict here because those qualities were not required.'
However, Kim Min-jae often hesitated about these issues because he could not play with confidence during the game. I worked hard to show you what the director wanted"I should have done a better job of doing the director's demands tactically, but I didn't always do that. I understand. As a player, whether you make mistakes or do well, you have to know what you are good at and what you are bad at in the field," he said, adding that he should have fully understood Tuchel's criticism and done better on his own.
Kim Min-jae also strengthened his will to play more in the next season based on the disappointment of this season. "It's a season that I'm not personally happy with, and I have to improve further next season. At the end of the season, I always have a lot of thoughts. What I did right, what I lacked, and what I needed. It is also important to make mistakes and learn from them when weaknesses are seen. It is important to reflect on everything well to be able to compete at a high level as a player. I'm going to get stronger next seasonApart from the transfer rumor that he will leave Bayern after a year, he expressed his determination to rebound so that he can play more.
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News that Kim Min-jae will not transfer has already appeared in the German media. Florian Flettenberg, a reporter from Germany's Sky Sports who is familiar with the Bayern news, said on his personal SNS that Kim Min-jae's rumor about Inter Milan was wrong, referring to the transfer of Inter Milan that appeared before Saudi Arabia. Kim Min-jae has no intention of leaving Bayern and wants to stay. The contract is valid until 2028'
Germany's FCB Inside also showed interest in recruiting despite Kim Min-jae's sluggish performance last season. Inter Milan are trying to bring him back to Serie A. If Kim Min-jae leaves Bayern, it will only be possible on loan. However, it is unlikely that Kim Min-jae will play in a new uniform next season. Kim Min-jae is said to be an essential element in coach Bang Sang Kompany's squad plan, adding that Kim will continue to play an important role in Bayern in the next season.
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In addition, Kim Min-jae can enter the main competition in a better environment than the 2023-2024 season in the next season. Kim Min-jae even went through military training just before moving to Bayern and couldn't rest at all during the pre-season. Even after entering the season, it was not easy. In the first half of the year, Kim Min-jae took charge of bad things by playing almost without a break to fill the vacancy left out by Dayot Upamecano and Matthias Duricht. Kim Min-jae's overwork was not predicted from the beginning of the season. Bayern had a total of three outstanding center backs this season, Kim Min-jae, Matheis Diricht and Dayot Upamecano, so it was expected that there would be no major difficulties in operating the defense. It was the injury of teammates that caught the ankle. Duricht was out injured, as was Upamecano.
Kim Min-jae is responsible for all the burdens, and he played full-time in 15 consecutive games as a starter in the early game of the season, leading to controversy over overwork. It is inevitable due to injuries to teammates, but Kim Min-jae also had a difficult time, showing signs of exhaustion during the league game due to continued full-time digestion. Kim Min-jae himself had physical problems due to military training during the off-season, but he did not hesitate to play for the team. In this situation, if Kim Min-jae immediately increases the possibility of Inter Milan's loan with the recruitment of Ito, Kim Min-jae could also be disappointed in Bayern's treatment. However, Bayern still does not underestimate the possibility of using Kim Min-jae, and recently, there has been a steady news that Kim Min-jae will remain.
Despite the disappointing first season of Bayern, interest in monster defender Kim Min-jae remained. However, Kim Min-jae chose to stay and compete for the starting lineup. Many fans are expected to watch with anticipation how successful Kim Min-jae's next season, which remains in Bayern after rejecting a huge offer, will be.
digh1229@sportschosun.com
