Awesome! Will Kim Min-jae, the star player of Korean soccer, stand behind Ronaldo's back

Aug 01, 2025

Awesome! Will Kim Min-jae, the star player of Korean soccer, stand behind Ronaldo's back
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Awesome! Will Kim Min-jae, the star player of Korean soccer, stand behind Ronaldo's back
'Korea Captain' does not go to Saudi Arabia. However, 'monster defender' may go.

Will Kim Min-jae, who plays as a center back for Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga, continue his new career in Saudi Arabia. In the second half of the summer transfer market, a shocking possibility of 'Kim Min-jae going to Saudi Arabia emerged. Saudi Arabia's Al Nasr, where Cristiano Ronaldo is playing, is in contact with agent Kim Min-jae in the process of finding a new center back.

French media Foot Mercato is looking for a replacement for Al-Nasr's Emric Laporte on the 1st (Korean time). According to a source, al-Nasr is already negotiating with Kim Min-jae's agent, conveying the shocking rumor of Kim Min-jae's transfer to al-Nasr.




Awesome! Will Kim Min-jae, the star player of Korean soccer, stand behind Ronaldo's back
The media outlet said 'Kim Min-jae, who spent two seasons after joining Bayern Munich, is now ready to accept new challenges. The transfer negotiations are also going on positively,' it added.

Saudi Arabia's representative club, Al Nasr, is desperate to bring in a European star. It is also a team that shocked the world by recruiting Ronaldo three years ago by mobilizing its enormous financial power. Even after Ronaldo's recruitment, he consistently brought in famous star players such as Alvaro González, Gonzalo Martinez, Marcello Brozovic, Sadio Mane, Ottavio and Laporte.

In addition, he also sent a love call to Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min early in the summer transfer market. However, Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy put off the transfer negotiations to accompany Son Heung-min on his Asian tour schedule, ending his interest.




Al-Nasr is paying attention to Kim Min-jae, the representative defender of the Korean national team, again.

The reason why Al Nasr wants Kim Min-jae is because Laporte is preparing to return to his original team, Athletic Bilbao (Spain). If Laporte leaves, there will be a gap in the center back position. It is natural to be interested in Kim Min-jae, the best center back in Europe.

Just in time, Kim Min-jae is also shaking his position in Munich. Kim Min-jae, who joined Munich in the summer 2023 transfer market, was pushed back from the starting lineup in his first season as he failed to earn the trust of former coach Thomas Tuchel.




Awesome! Will Kim Min-jae, the star player of Korean soccer, stand behind Ronaldo's back
However, after Coach Bang Sang Kompany took office in the 2024-2025 season, he regained his position as the main center back. However, the Achilles tendon injury has become chronic due to playing too much. Eventually, this resulted in poor form in the second half of the season and increased errors. In the end, Munich classified Kim Min-jae as a target for sale in the transfer market. Al-Nasr seems to have contacted Kim Min-jae for this situation.

Kim Min-jae has been working in various leagues and has grown his career. He left Jeonbuk Hyundai for China in 2019. Kim Min-jae silently played his soccer, even though fans criticized him for `pursuing money at a young age.' In the end, based on his successful career here, he moved to Turkiye Fenerbahce in the summer of 2021 and set foot on the European stage.

A year later, he moved to Italy's Serie A team Napoli and was finally reborn as the best center back in Europe. Kim Min-jae, who became Napoli's leading player in the league, also signed with Bayern Munich for the first time in a year and hit the jackpot. Attention is focusing on whether he will continue his new career in Saudi Arabia again this time.



Reporter Lee Won-man wman@sportschosun.com



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.