Eventually signing Clément Lenglet on loan, Antonio Conte made it clear he wanted at least one more centre-back in his Tottenham squad.
Among the targets mentioned was 25-year-old Kim Min-jae, who eventually ended up at Napoli to try and help replace Kalidou Koulibaly.
Then at Fenerbahçe, the player was the subject of multiple rumours, including a move to Tottenham, which has since been backed up by Ho Lee, described as ‘close collaborator’ to the footballer.
The news comes, according to Calcio Napoli 24, as part of a ‘documentary about Korean footballers’ ahead of the World Cup, where he was asked about the transfer stories that surrounded the centre-back.
He said: “Inter, Juventus, Tottenham, Rennes and Roma have tried to sign Kim, and many clubs have held meetings on video, but we wanted Kim to be able to play in a good team with a certain continuity, and that team was Napoli.”
If we look at how much Lenglet has played, perhaps what he says makes some sense, as the Frenchman, following his abductor injury in mid-August, has only started the one Premier League game for Spurs, in the most recent 2-1 win over Fulham.
He spent the previous three games on the Tottenham bench, while Kim Min-jam, down his end, has started every single game Napoli have played, scoring two goals along the way, against Monza and Lazio.
