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| The final match of Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup between South Korea and Kuwait at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 10th. Lee Kang-in is thanking South Korea at a celebration of its advance to the World Cup held after its 4-0 victory. Sangam = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.6.10/ |
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Lee Kang-in could be in real crisis ahead of the World Cup.
Lee Kang-in's team, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), will play Tottenham at Friuli Stadium in Udinese, Italy, at 4 a.m. on the 14th (Korea time) in the 2025-2026 UEFA Super Cup.
Lee Kang-in's name cannot be found on the PSG selection list that comes out through various media ahead of the game. Lee Kang-in's name is not on the PSG selection list posted on the UEFA official website. It's been a while since Lee Kang-in started to fall out of PSG's starting list frequently.
In fact, in the first half of last season, Lee Kang-in almost appeared on the field even if he was on the bench. He is not a perfect starting player, but he has consistently appeared on the field as the 12th and 13th player. However, Lee Kang-in was completely pushed out of the main competition with the recruitment of Khvicha Kravatshelia and the explosive growth of Desiree. Now, even when sitting on a bench, there are more and more cases where they are not chosen.
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| Lee Kang-in, who visited the stadium, is watching the match between Tottenham and Newcastle at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 3rd. Sangam = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.08.03/ |
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The FIFA Club World Cup in 2025, which was held not long ago, was a competition that showed how much Lee Kang-in is currently pushed out of PSG. While playing seven games until the final, Lee Kang-in played in four games. All four games were played only as substitutes, and the total time of playing was less than 60 minutes. In the replacement ranking, Lee Kang-in is also being pushed out.
Lee Kang-in was expected to be transferred because he was too pushed out of the main competition, but there has been no news until mid-August. The problem is that PSG is not actively trying to sell Lee Kang-in. Luis Enrique is not trying to make much of a difference from a team that already made the treble last season. Among the existing resources, Zanlu and Donnarum have changed. All he has to do is recruit Ilya Jabarni to replace Marquignos, who is aging in the long run. It is more difficult for Lee Kang-in to leave because he wants to maintain his existing power as much as possible.
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| The final match of Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup between South Korea and Kuwait at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 10th. Lee Kang-in greets his fans at a celebration for advancing to the World Cup held after South Korea won 4-0. Sangam = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.6.10/ |
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Lee Kang-in's price tag, which is currently being discussed, is around 30 million euros (about 48 billion won). It is a difficult amount for general teams in Italy's Serie A, Spain's La Liga, and Germany's Bundesliga to offer. In the end, there is only the English Premier League left to move to another big league.
Another stumbling block here is that most EPL big clubs are now closing the transfer market. Liverpool is not expected to recruit additional strikers except Alexander Isaac. Manchester City does not even have a red flag connected to Lee Kang-in. Arsenal are focusing on recruiting Eberechi Eze, and Tottenham are also only rumored to recruit Eze and Manchester City's Savinho. Manchester United, which was consistently interested in Lee Kang-in, finished reinforcing the offense with Brian Mbomo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Seschko. Newcastle United remains, but Newcastle is also in a hurry to recruit Isaac's replacement. Positionally, Lee Kang-in is not in a hurry.
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| The official training for the third qualifying round of the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup was held at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 9th. Lee Kang-in is training. Sangam = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.06.09/ |
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If Lee Kang-in remains at PSG as it is, Lee Kang-in will also lose money, but Korean soccer is also concerned. This is because Lee Kang-in is the actual ace who should lead Hong Myung-bo in the upcoming World Cup. Lee Kang-in's role is too important in the process of creating an attack. If such an ace does not have a consistent performance due to lack of playing time, South Korea will inevitably be in big trouble.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
