One centre-back seems to be on every European heavyweight’s shopping list: Kim Min-jae.
At 6ft 4in, strong as an ox and as quick as a flash, the South Korean - recently crowned Serie A champion - has been a colossus for Napoli this season. It is scary to think that, less than two years ago, Min-jae was playing for Beijing Guoan in the Chinese Super League.
What is perhaps more frightening for Chelsea is how Napoli only signed the 26-year-old due to losing Kalidou Koulibaly. After rebuffing enquiries for years, Napoli allowed a 31-year-old to join the Blues - desperate for an Antonio Rudiger replacement - for £35million.
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Chelsea fans soon learned that Gli Azzurri had already squeezed every ounce of Koulibaly’s prime for themselves before discarding him at an inflated fee. Their backup plan?
Sign the next Koulibaly.
Min-jae arrived as the next cab off the rank - highlighting the shrewdness of Napoli’s transfer acumen and, to some regard, exposing Chelsea’s. Todd Boehly can learn lessons from last summer to show a prudent approach going forward - unearthing top players before other clubs make insane profits on them further down the line.
For context, Min-jae boasts an 85.2 percent tackle success in 2022-23, drawing Koulibaly’s 64.1 per cent. The South Korean has also won 63.6 percent of his aerial duels, trumping his counterpart (54.1 percent).
Those individual statistics translate into grim viewing for Koulibaly when both teams are analysed. In fairness, Chelsea have only conceded 22 goals in as many games with the defender on the pitch - but Min-jae still comes out on top.
The Napoli man has earned 16 clean sheets in 2022-23, conceding just 23 goals across 33 games to help his club win their first Serie A title since 1990. European powerhouses trying to sign Min-jae for anything close to the £15million paid to Fenerbahce last summer will be told where to go.
Chelsea would need to stump up a crazy figure as they have in the past when there is no reason why gems cannot be unearthed closer to home. With Mauricio Pochettino, a manager with a track record of developing players at Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur, potentially at the helm, Boehly has a man he can trust with lesser-known players - saving him a fraction in the process.
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