“We were really close to him” – Director on the player he almost signed for Watford, fell in love with him

Filippo Giraldi spent over eight years at Watford before leaving them for Nottingham Forest in 2020.

The Italian initially joined the Hornets as their scout in 2012 and was then promoted to technical director in 2014.

TuttoMercatoWeb have published a detailed interview with Giraldi, where he revealed that Watford failed to sign Kim Min-jae in the past.

The South Korea international arrived in Europe for the first time when Fenerbahçe signed him from Chinese side Beijing Guoan in 2021.

Giraldi has revealed he was offered a chance to sign the 26-year-old defender for Watford when he was at South Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. He explained this when TMW asked him about the signings he failed to undertake.

“The player we were really close to and with whom we had daily contact both with the boy and with the agents was Kim min-jae,” he said.

“We were really close to him when he was still playing in Korea: he was reported to me through the scouts and I fell in love, an incredible resilience and a high-level personality. We actually got to the signing steps, but at that moment Jeonbuk decided not to disregard an agreement they had already made with Beijing Guoan: the boy was respectful and went to China. Even when he was there, we resumed contact, but at that moment we couldn’t carry out the operation there.”

Min-jae joined Napoli in 2022 and established himself as one of the best centre-backs in Serie A last season. This saw him linked to Manchester United but he ended up moving to Bayern Munich in the last window.

Giraldi has also told TMW that Fikayo Tomori was a step away from joining Watford after his loan spell at Derby County during the 2018/19 season. Tomori, who’s currently at AC Milan, was then owned by Chelsea.