The transfer of ‘Iron Pillar’ Kim Min-jae (27, Naples) to Manchester United is getting closer to reality in various circumstances.
On the 21st (hereinafter referred to as Korean time), ‘Il Martino’, a local newspaper in Naples, Italy, which first reported the details of Kim Min-jae’s transfer agreement to Manchester United, reported that “Kim Min-jae has agreed to personal terms with Manchester United, and the contract has actually been signed.”
“Man Utd offered Kim Min-jae an annual salary of 7.8 million pounds (approximately 12.8 billion won) and sought a villa in Alderley Edge.”
Located in the Cheshire area near Manchester, England, Alderly Edge is where Park Ji-seong (42, retired), a former “Asian soccer star,” resided from 2005 to 2012. It is also a wealthy village where David Beckham and his wife lived, and is also where many star players such as Rio Ferdinand, Dwight York, and And Cole live. Above all, it is a 30-minute drive to Old Trafford (OT), the home ground of Manchester United. You can also get to Manchester Airport in 15 minutes and the Carrington training ground in 25 minutes.
If the club has even prepared a house for the player, it should be seen that the personal negotiations with the player have been completed. However, United seem to want to lower the buyout slightly. It has already decided to pay the full buyout between £51 million and £56 million, but ‘Plan B’ has also been inquired at Napoli. It is known that he proposed a plan to lower the buyout by adding Viktor Lindelof. However, ‘Il Martino’ said: “Napoli want all transfer fees paid.”
Meanwhile, Fabrizio Romano, an expert on the European football transfer market, argued that Manchester United’s recruitment of Kim Min-jae depends on the new owner. On the 19th, Romano claimed in his podcast, ‘The Here We Go’, “Man United is the best option to sign Kim Min-jae by paying a buyout (minimum transfer fee).” “This is just Manchester United’s theory. Napoli is trying to persuade Kim Min-jae to stay with a longer-term contract and a larger buyout amount. Above all, (the decision to recruit Kim Min-jae) depends on the new owner of Manchester United. There are still no concrete proposals or specific details. I didn’t make any steps,” he said.
Reports of Kim Min-jae’s transfer to Manchester United came out on the 15th. ‘Il Martino’ reported, “Kim Min-jae has agreed to the transfer to Manchester United, and only the final detailed coordination remains.” He added, “The club’s leadership persuaded me to move to the English Premier League (EPL).” “The agent persuaded Kim Min-jae to accept the Manchester United transfer, and there are only details left to be finalized,” he said.
However, Romano refuted the article about Kim Min-jae’s consent to Manchester United. On the 16th, Romano wrote on his social media (SNS), “Kim Min-jae has been on the Manchester United scout list since December of last year. However, nothing has been agreed upon or nothing has been decided yet.” “The buyout is only triggered in July. Manchester United are interested (in the buyout payment), but Napoli are still offering Kim Min-jae a new contract,” he explained.
In the end, according to Romano’s information, the transfer of not only Kim Min-jae, but also star players on Manchester United’s recruitment list this summer, requires approval from the owner, who is the final decision maker.
Naturally. However, it is a confusing time for Man United. It is placed on the verge of a club owner change. When Malcolm passed away in 2014, his children became co-owners of Manchester United, which American sports tycoon Malcolm Glazer acquired for $1.47 billion (approximately 1.95 trillion won) in 2005. Is it because of some Manchester United fans who shouted ‘glazer out’ whenever their performance was sluggish even after investing astronomical amounts of money every year? In November of last year, the Glazer family virtually announced the sale of the club. Then, a consortium led by Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) chairman Sheikh Jasim bin Hamad al-Thani, Ineos led by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, and various foreign capitals who wanted even a minority stake showed interest, sparking competition to take over.먹튀검증
When it seemed that Ratcliffe would be selected as the preferred negotiator for the takeover of Manchester United, chairman Sheikh Jassim added an additional £500 million (approximately KRW 824.3 billion) on the 28th of last month, 18 days after he had submitted a bid of £5 billion (approximately KRW 824.38 trillion). The new proposal, totaling £5.5 billion, included a plan to completely clear the club’s debt worth £1 billion (approximately 1.6487 trillion won) and to create a fund to invest in club facilities and the community. Some of this is expected to be used to repair facilities such as Old Trafford, their home stadium, which has been open for more than 100 years, and the club’s training ground in Carrington, near Manchester. However, according to The Guardian, the raised bid also falls short of the 6 billion pounds (approximately 9,901.5 billion won) offered by the Glazer family, the current owners of the club.
No matter who the new owner of Manchester United becomes, it is a self-evident fact that Min-jae Kim is the number one player Manchester United should recruit in the transfer market this summer. Britain’s ‘The Sun’ predicted on the 11th that if Ratcliffe took over, a lot of changes would happen to Manchester United in this summer’s transfer market. The first is the joint recruitment of Harry Kane and Kim Min-jae. Even if Qatari capital comes in, it seems that Kim Min-jae will be recruited according to the script set by Manchester United. After acquiring Manchester City in 2008, Sheikh Mansour, a businessman from the royal family of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), also spent nearly 2 trillion won to collect top-notch star players. In particular, if Kim Min-jae is taken away by Newcastle, the capital of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, and Man City, the capital of the UAE, the pride of Middle Eastern royal families could be greatly damaged.