I’m a big fan of Minjae. He brings a great spirit to the team.”
Bayern Munich director Christoph Proint praises Kim Min-jae
In an interview with German outlet Sport Bild, Proint spoke about the Bavarians’ new recruits this season.레모나토토
“I’m a big fan of Kim Min-jae. He’s bringing a great mentality to the team,” he said.
“Harry Kane has settled in perfectly. He’s a superman goalie. Konrad Reimer is also doing really well and Rafael Guerrero will bring happiness in the future.”
Kim made his European debut after leaving Jeonbuk Hyundai for Beijing Guoan and then Fenerbahçe of Turkkiye. He made his mark by showing off his presence.
His next move was to Napoli, and it’s no surprise, as he was a revelation the previous season, putting in some incredible performances.
Kim dominated the Italian scene last season with Napoli as a monster defender. He made a name for himself around the world with some incredible performances.
In particular, he won the Italian Serie A’s best defense award after helping Napoli reach the UCL quarterfinals and win their first league title in 33 years.
His performance earned him a spot on the 30-man shortlist for the 2023 Ballon d’Or.
“He has shown his athleticism on the ground and in the air, as well as his first touch. He had the highest number of passes and highest success rate in the Italian Serie A last season. He played for Napoli before moving to Bayern Munich and made everyone forget about Kalidou Koulibaly.”
Kim is the fifth South Korean player to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or, following Seol Ki-hyun (Anderlecht) in 2002, Park Ji-sung (Manchester United) in 2005, Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur) in 2019 and Son in 2022.
The previous highest ranking for a South Korean player was 11th, when Son was the top scorer in the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2021/22 season.
While Kim hasn’t challenged Son for the title, he’s certainly made his mark.
Three central defenders made the final 30 for the Ballon d’Or: Kim Min-jae, Josuco Gvardiol, and Ousmane Dias.
Kim was ranked 22nd, the highest ranking for a defender among the 30 Ballon d’Or nominees. Gbardiol was ranked 25th and Dias 30th. This is proof that they were recognized as the best in the world.
The French publication L’Equipe commented on why Kim made the list of 30 finalists for the Ballon d’Or: “His delivery and first-time build-up ability at Napoli, before his move to Bayern Munich, made him forget his predecessor Kalidou Koulibaly.”
With Kim Min-jae ranked 22nd, ‘Recife’ added: “He became the fourth South Korean player to reach the Ballon d’Or rankings. He played a big role in helping Napoli win the title last season.”
For Kim Min-jae, Napoli and the Italian stage were narrow. Bayern Munich came calling and secured his signature by paying the highest transfer fee for an Asian player.
“Bayern Munich is every soccer player’s dream club. I’m looking forward to everything that lies ahead. My first goal is to play a lot of games. After that, I want to win as many trophies as possible.” He is excited about his new challenge.
Jean-Christian Driesen, CEO of Bayern Munich, said: “Kim Min-Jae has made great strides since winning the Italian Serie A title with Napoli last season and winning the best defender award. His mental strength and speed are both impressive. I am sure he will inspire the fans with his play.”
Kim has established himself as a key defender for Bayern Munich and seems to be enjoying a successful transition to the Bundesliga and the big club.
Global sports media outlet ESPN recently recognized the best players of all time across all age groups.
Lionel Messi, Kevin De Bruyne, Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah, Bruno Fernandez, Elling Holland, Kylian Mbappe, and many others were mentioned.
Kim Min-jae joins the ranks of the super-rich. At the age of 26, he was voted the best player in the world.
“I’m in my second season in the top five big leagues. Are we overestimating his performance at Napoli?” he said.
“He has the potential to be one of the best center backs in the world for the next five years,” he said, acknowledging his potential.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) also held its 2022 AFC Awards Ceremony on Monday at the Qatar National Convention Center in Doha, Qatar.
South Korea’s Kim Min-jae was named the AFC Player of the Year.
The AFC Player of the Year award recognizes the most outstanding performance by an AFC member nation’s player away from their home league and on the international stage.
Son Heung-min won the award in 2015, 2017, and 2019, and now Kim takes over the honor.
It was only fitting that Kim would win the AFC Player of the Year award.
There were some doubters.
“After moving to Munich from Napoli for 50 million euros this summer, Kim has had to adapt to Munich and the Bundesliga. So far, he hasn’t been one of the best performers on the pitch.”
German soccer legend Lothar Matthaeus recently criticized Kim’s performance.
“He would be a great addition. He was at his best at Napoli. I think he’ll be good at Bayern Munich,” he said when he joined the club.
However, he later added: “He’s not playing as well as we expected. He needs to get used to the Bundesliga. He doesn’t have the great form he had in Italy. He’s not showing what I expected from him.”
“Harry Kane has proven it, but Kim Min-jae has hardly shown that he is worth his €50 million transfer fee so far,” said the German outlet Kicker.
Arguably, Kim has been a first-choice defender for Bayern Munich and is developing into one of the best center backs in the world.
However, he has also been criticized for playing too many games.
In the 11th round of the 2023/24 German Bundesliga season against Heidenheim, Kim played full time. That’s 14 games in a row.
While Kim played well overall, he made a costly mistake. In the 25th minute of the second half, a distracted forward pass led to the goal.
With injuries to Dayo Upamecano and Matthijs de Ligt, Kim has had to take on a lot of responsibility for Bayern Munich’s defense.
With injuries to Dayo Upamecano and Matthias De Ligt, Kimmich has been single-handedly responsible for Bayern Munich’s defense. It’s been pointed out that he’s tired and doesn’t perform as well as he should.
Kim has established himself as one of Bayern Munich’s key defenders and is on track to make the Bundesliga and the big club.
However, there are some who argue that he plays too many games.
Kim played full-time in the 11th round of the 2023/24 Bundesliga against Heidenheim. That’s 14 games in a row.
While Kim played well overall, he made a costly mistake. In the 25th minute of the second half, a distracted forward pass led to the goal.
With injuries to Dayo Upamecano and Matthijs de Ligt, Kim has had to take on a lot of responsibility for Bayern Munich’s defense.
With injuries to Dayo Upamecano and Matthias De Ligt, Kimmich has been single-handedly responsible for Bayern Munich’s defense. It’s been pointed out that he’s tired and doesn’t play as well as he should.
German media outlets have criticized him for his mistakes, giving him the lowest ratings.
The Portuguese outlet ‘portalcascais’ wrote, “Kim Min-jae immediately established himself as a starter after his move to Bayern Munich. With De Ligt and Upamecano out with injuries, he was the lone defender. With his recent full-time digestion, we are concerned about injuries and a drop in performance. He also has a full schedule with the South Korean national team. There are bound to be twists and turns physically,” he said.
Bayern Munich speaks out on Kim Min-jae’s bullying controversy.
“He plays over 90 minutes every game and it’s natural for him to lose focus on a tough schedule, because he’s only human,” said Bayern Munich president Christian Pruyne.
Thomas Tuchel added: “At the back, Kim made a clear mistake and it happened with a bad play. It’s not the time to criticize him, it’s true that he played too much,” said Thomas Tuchel.
German media outlet Sport1 reported on Thursday, “Bayern Munich has only three central defenders. Kim Min-jae is the only one who plays consistently. He has played 959 out of 990 minutes this season. He also played full-time in all four Champions League matches.” The report highlighted his recent performances.
“We need to think about the right time to give him a break. Even monsters get tired,” he said, expressing concern about overwork.
Kim joined the Klinsmann for the second round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA Confederations Cup North America against Singapore and China.
Kim will return to South Korea from Germany to face Singapore before traveling to China.
‘Sport1’ reported, “Kim won’t even have time to recover from the A-match period. The travel distance is about 20,000 kilometers,” and worried about the decline in his physical strength.
Their fears were realized. There is a sense that Kim won’t be able to take a break from the national team.
“I think he will be tired after a 12-hour flight,” coach Jürgen Klinsmann said in an interview the day before the match against Singapore.
“It wouldn’t be good for the players to just train. A World Cup qualifier is a game you want to play to the death. You don’t want to rest. I think he was referring to the German media because they have to write about it. Kim Min-jae was all smiles today. It’s his birthday, and I’m going to give him a cake,” he said.
With the picture of Kim Min-jae struggling alone, Bayern Munich is in the mood to sign a center back.
“Real Sociedad’s Martin Subramendi is a candidate to sign a defensive midfielder,” wrote Philipp Kessler, a Bayern Munich reporter for German outlet TZ.