Manchester United are on course to sign Napoli centre-back Kim Min-jae when his release clause becomes active next month, according to Corriere dello Sport (page 9).
The Red Devils have been heavily linked with the South Korean star in the past few weeks, and reports in the Italian media claim that he will move to Old Trafford soon.
Yesterday, Il Mattino reported that the 26-year-old will be at United from July 1, and the same has been reiterated by Corriere dello Sport in today’s newspaper.
The Italian publication say that the Red Devils will trigger the €60 million foreign release clause in his contract which will be active during the first 15 days of July.
It is added that United have ‘booked him for a while’, and nothing has changed despite ‘Newcastle’s last-minute attempts’ to hijack the deal from the Red Devils.
Min-jae looks on course to join Man Utd
Min-jae arrived at Napoli from Fenerbahce last summer, and had a wonderful debut season.
He was pivotal to their Serie A title success, keeping an impressive 16 clean sheets from 35 outings. The centre-back completed 73 passes per game with an accuracy of 91 per cent.
Defensively, he was also solid with 1.6 tackles and 4.5 duels won per game alongside 3.5 clearances. He made life difficult for opposition strikers in the box with his physical presence.
In our view, Min-jae would perfectly suit the Premier League with his brilliant all-round attributes. He should provide serious competition to Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez.
Min-jae has largely played from the left centre-back role for Napoli, but Varane’s position could be under threat with his arrival. The Frenchman could lose his starting spot if he can’t stay unscathed.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
