Man City HIJACK move for Man Utd’s top summer target

Carlo Garganese

• 21 Jun 2023 12:45 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester City have made a late entrance into the race to sign Napoli defender Kim Min-Jae, according to the Corriere dello Sport.

The South Korea centre back is widely reported as being close to completing a transfer to Bayern Munich, with negotiations now at their final stages.

Only minor details need to be sorted for Kim to sign a five year contract at Bayern.

Who is Kim Min-Jae? The €50m Napoli ‘monster’ wanted by Man Utd

Originally, Kim was expected to sign for Manchester United, who had made the 26-year-old their top summer defensive target.

The Korean had long since agreed personal terms with United but the chaos over the ownership situation at Old Trafford delayed negotiations and allowed Bayern to move ahead.

But now the Corriere reports that City have entered the race and are trying to hijack Bayern’s move for Kim.

READ MORE: Man City use Kovacic as bait for Gvardiol

City have made the signing of a central defender one of their own priorities this summer, but as FootballTransfers reported the favourite for the role has been Josko Gvardiol of Leipzig.

READ MORE: Premier League 2023/24 summer transfers: All the Done Deals

What is Kim Min-Jae’s release clause?

Kim has a minimum fee release clause in his contract of around €50 million, valid for the first two weeks in July, which makes Napoli powerless to let him go.

Attempts by Napoli to give Kim a new contract and remove the clause have proved fruitless.

Min-Jae has been an absolute revelation since joining Napoli from Fenerbahce for €18m last summer, helping the club to their first Scudetto in 33 years.

He was signed as a replacement for Kalidou Koulibaly, who left after eight years to join Chelsea, but Kim has been magnificent at the heart of Napoli’s defence.

This led to interest from Europe’s biggest clubs, with first Man Utd and then Bayern seeming destined to sign the 26-year-old.

According to Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti, Kim is now the best in the world in his role.

“Kim does at least 20 incredible things per game, for me he truly is the best centre-back in the world,” Spalletti said after Napoli’s 2-0 win over Atalanta in March.