On Monday, we covered reports from Italy which stated Kim Min-jae is ‘destined’ to sign for Manchester United and it’s simply a ‘matter of details’.
That stance was partly pushed by Il Mattino, the local newspaper for the Naples region. As we said at the time, the claims have been very strong in Italy on this transfer, especially over the past week or so.
That’s despite it not seeming like an obvious move for the Red Devils to make, and certainly not their area of greatest concern.
On Tuesday, there were then claims from South Korea that the defender’s entourage had talked down an imminent move to Manchester United.
It was insisted Kim Min-jae remains focused on the remaining games with Napoli. There was also a big hint that, should he go through with a move, then Champions League football will be key.
Manchester United are close to securing that but haven’t done so yet.
Wednesday’s edition of Il Mattino again has confident claims on the move. They state the Napoli player ‘has accepted the transfer’ to the Premier League club, and, in turn, United have ‘let the blue club know they will pay the full €56m clause’.
So what’s going on?
Well, as we’ve said repeatedly, it’s clear someone has been pushing claims to the Italian media. Il Mattino and others don’t appear to be grasping their information from thin air.
That’s likely an intermediary (rather than a player agent) who is trying to build deals ahead of the summer window, and wants to hype situations in an effort to flush out any other interest.
That wouldn’t mean there isn’t interest or that a deal isn’t in the works. In addition, Kim Min-jae’s entourage may well want to calm things, especially with Champions League qualification not secured.
Whilst Napoli have hyped interested from Manchester United in their players in the past, notably Kalidou Koulibaly, this time it wouldn’t make much sense given Kim Min-jae has a release clause of €50-60m… so they can’t ask for silly money anyway.
