‘Extraordinary’ Liverpool-linked colossus emphatically addresses transfer rumours – report
Reported Liverpool target Kim Min-jae has emphatically shut down transfer speculation linking him with a move away from Napoli.
Football Insider claimed in recent days that the Reds are interested in the South Korea defender, with Tottenham and Manchester United also linked with the 26-year-old.
However, the centre-back has been keen to play down any and all rumours touting him with a prospective exit from the Serie A leaders.
As per Football Italia, Kim insisted: “I cannot be bothered by transfer rumours because they aren’t true. Now I’m focusing on the team, rather than that kind of nonsense. There are so many important matches to go and right now I only want to focus on Napoli.”
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The firmness with which the South Korean rebuffed speculation regarding his future might suggest that he’s indeed fully committed to Napoli, which would be understandable given their dominant position domestically and presence in the Champions League quarter-finals.
However, it’s not uncommon for players to publicly play down transfer rumours out of respect for their current club, so Liverpool certainly shouldn’t give up on Kim purely on the basis of his comments.
That’s because the 26-year-old is a superb defender who’s been labelled ‘extraordinary’ by compatriot Park Ji-sung (Tuttomercatoweb), a Champions League winner in the 2000s.
As per Total Football Analysis, the centre-back is assured in possession, with an ability to accurately pick out teammates from distance, while also having the intelligence to know when to hold his central position or shuffle wide to cover the space vacated by full-backs bombing forward.
Unsurprisingly for a player nicknamed ‘Monster’ (The Guardian) and boasting a 6 foot 2 stature, Kim is superb in the air, winning 2.93 headers per game, which places him among the top 11% of his positional peers in Europe over the past year (FBref).
Publicly he might be insistent that he’s going nowhere, but that’s not to say Liverpool should regard him as unattainable.
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