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Amid news that a huge proposal to recruit Lee Kang-in was headed to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Newcastle reportedly invested a lot of money in recruiting Lee Kang-in.
Lee Kang-in recently received the attention of the English Premier League (EPL) club and was put back at the center of the transfer market like last summer.
The start was an anonymous club. France's Foot Mercato said on the 16th (Korea time) 'EPL club offered 70 million euros (about 100 billion won) for Lee Kang-in'PSG received a considerable offer for Lee Kang-in. A huge offer has arrived for PSG, which wants to earn transfer fees to replace Mbappe. According to the information, an anonymous EPL club offered 70 million euros to recruit Lee Kang-in. Lee Kang-in, who transferred for 22 million euros (about 33 billion won) last summer, said he is under contract with PSG until 2028.
Then 'PSG wants to protect Lee Kang-in. He has already rejected the EPL club's offer and wants to keep Lee Kang-in. Lee Kang-in is also very good at PSG, and he doesn't want to leave PSG for the time being. Therefore, Lee Kang-in explained that he will remain at PSG in the 2024-2025 season.
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However, the transfer rumor was not the end. Newcastle's name, not anonymous, was mentioned in earnest, raising the possibility of a transfer again.
The news of Newcastle was reported on the 16th on the official SNS that `Newcastle has made official inquiries to PSG about Lee Kang-in in the past 24 hours.'
McPhee Media pointed out that Newcastle's new director Paul Mitchell pointed to Lee Kang-in as his dream goal in the transfer market. Lee Kang-in, who was the youngest Korean to play in Europe in 2019, plays both wing and center midfielder, and this ability has come as a big draw for Newcastle manager Eddie Howe and director Mitchell'He also explained why Newcastle showed interest.
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One of the notable parts of the news is that the Newcastle leadership, who wants Lee Kang-in, is Paul Mitchell, the new director who joined Newcastle. Paul Mitchell worked as a senior stout at Southampton in the past, forming a team with Pochettino, and later moved to Tottenham with Pochettino to discover several players. Since then, he has grown into one of the leading directors in Europe through RB Leipzig and AS Monaco.
Mitchell discovered Sadio Mane and Doosan Tadic at Southampton, and was famous for signing Son Heung-min at Tottenham. Son Heung-min, who joined Tottenham with Mitchell's discovery, has grown into an EPL legend. In addition to Son Heung-min, Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld, Kieran Trippier and Moussa Sissoko were recruited to help Pochettino and Tottenham achieve their prime.
The fact that he set Lee Kang-in as a 'dream goal' clearly recognized Lee Kang-in's potential, and it is highly likely that he closely grasped his growth potential, adaptation and Newcastle's performance.
However, it is unclear whether Newcastle's transfer fee proposal will meet PSG. MegFi Media believes that Newcastle's transfer fee of about 40 million pounds (about 71 billion won) will be enough to recruit Lee Kang-in. Lee Kang-in also wants to completely transfer from PSG and play in the first team regularly, he said.
It is not known whether the 70 million euro offer reported earlier by Foot Mercato will be true, but it is difficult to guarantee that the 71 billion proposal can persuade PSG to send Lee Kang-in because PSG has expressed its intention to reject the huge offer for Lee Kang-in. In addition, since Lee Kang-in was competing for the first and second place in PSG's uniform sales in the 2023-2024 season, it is expected that PSG will consider a lot of things in addition to the player's performance.
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Meanwhile, this is not the first time that Newcastle and Lee Kang-in's names have been intertwined. In April 2023, Newcastle reportedly showed interest as the possibility of Lee Kang-in leaving Mallorca grew.
At the time, some British media reported 'Newcastle was also linked to Lee Kang-in's transfer earlier this year. Lee Kang-in's transfer does not destroy their capital, and he is a player with great potential to match Manchester City legend David Silva in Valencia. Lee Kang-in will be an amazing signing for Newcastle. He has great technical quality, and he is industrious. I will succeed in Eddie Howe's system, he said, expressing his potential for Newcastle.
Considering Lee Kang-in's performance in the first season at PSG, Newcastle's steady interest can also be fully understood. Lee Kang-in gathered high expectations by joining PSG ahead of the 2023-2024 season. At that time, it was the world's top team, including Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, so fans were paying attention to how good Lee Kang-in would be.
During the first season of PSG, Lee Kang-in played in 36 games and performed well with five goals and five assists, even though it was not easy to adapt to the team due to busy schedules such as the Asian Games and the Asian Cup. In particular, he started in the Trope de Champion (Super Cup) match between PSG and Toulouse and was named the man of the match, earning the nickname 'the new prince of PSG'.
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In particular, Newcastle's chances of recruiting are even higher as there is a high possibility of a gap in the position where Lee Kang-in can show outstanding performance this summer.
Newcastle's Miguel Almiron, who played as a right winger, has been steadily rumored to move to Saudi Arabia since the summer transfer market opened. In addition, Elliot Anderson, who played as a right-center midfielder at the end of last season, moved to Nottingham Forest, creating a gap in the midfield. Both positions are where Lee Kang-in played for PSG last season, and especially for the right winger, Lee Kang-in has also stood out in the Korean national team and Mallorca.
Considering the possibility of Newcastle's power vacuum and Lee Kang-in's active position, Lee Kang-in is expected to be much easier to compete for the starting lineup than PSG, which currently fills young and promising resources in positions where Lee Kang-in can play.
However, for Lee Kang-in, it is unclear whether he will move back to the stage of EPL and choose to adapt to the league with a season already spent at PSG. Unlike PSG, Newcastle's inability to play in the European competition next season could also be a negative factor.
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In addition to Newcastle, Napoli is also known to be watching Lee Kang-in, so there is a possibility that Lee Kang-in's value will soar further due to competition for recruitment.
Napoli has been steadily interested in recruiting Lee Kang-in since last summer. The starting point was Kylian Mbappe's move to Real Madrid. After leaving Mbappe, PSG sought to recruit Victor Osimhen, and presented Lee Kang-in as one of the cards to push for it.
In April, Italian media reported that `PSG offered Osimhen the contract period and salary, and Napoli could consider Carlos Soler, Marco Asensio, Lee Kang-in, and Lucas Veraldu to reduce transfer fees during Osimhen's recruitment process.' In particular, Napoli is known to be interested in Lee Kang-in.
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Italian leading journalist Gianluca DiMarzio said on the 16th that Victor Osimhen's agent was in Paris. Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) want to bring Osimhen, including the player. Currently, the names mentioned are Carlos Soler, Nordi Mukiele, and Lee Kang-in. Among them, Lee Kang-in is the only player Napoli is interested in,' he said, adding that Napoli is interested in Lee Kang-in.
Following the news of the anonymous EPL club's 100 billion proposal, Newcastle's specific interest has been reported, and the atmosphere surrounding Lee Kang-in is heating up. Attention is also focusing on whether Lee Kang-in, who has already spent a season at PSG, will choose between staying at PSG and moving to the EPL this summer.
digh1229@sportschosun.com
