Kim Min-jae
Back in the summer of 2023, when Bayern Munich activated Kim Min-jae’s release clause of €50 million to pry him away from Napoli, in some quarters, it was considered a brilliant deal. In the 2022/23 season, Kim not only won the Scudetto with Napoli but was also voted Serie A’s best defender.
However, despite a positive start to the 2023/24 season with Bayern, his performances in big games were found wanting during the business end of the campaign under then coach-ThomasTuchel.
Jumping a year forward, a similar pattern emerged in the performances of the 28-year-old South Korean under Vincent Kompany. However, sympathizers of Kim, including this writer, would be quick to point out that because of a lack of fit personnel, the player had to play through the pain barrier with either knee pain or achilles tendon soreness throughout the majority of the season.
Be that as it may, in the opinions of Bayern’s top brass, Kim is not up to standard, and as such, they are willing to sell and replace him if a suitable offer comes in. The situation is, without doubt, a bitter pill for the player to swallow. Nonetheless, in light of the injury situation, the Bayern chiefs may wish to consider deferring his potential sale until after the Club World Cup. Who knows if by then his performances may warrant a change of heart on both sides?