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Manchester United’s chances of signing Napoli defender Kim min-Jae are zero in January, because the Italian side have put up an ‘insurmountable wall’ around the player.

Kim has been in excellent form for Napoli since arriving from Fenerbahce in the summer as a replacement for Kalidou Koulibaly.

He’s quickly helped his new side forget their former hero, with a series of impressive performances earning him rave reviews and admirers in Europe.

Manchester United are believed to be one of them, with several reports making it clear they are more than willing to pay the player’s €50m release clause.

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It had initially been claimed they could do so in January but reports in Italy have since made it clear that while the clause exists, it does not come into effect until next summer.

Il Mattino, relayed by Napoli Magazine, continue to add to that today, explaining that Manchester United ‘have their eyes’ on the defender after his impressive displays.

However, at the moment he remains a Napoli player because his €50m ‘foreign only’ club clause activates from July 2023 and no earlier.

Before that point there will be an ‘insurmountable wall’ and any interested party would have to negotiate with Napoli and their president Aurelio de Laurentiis, who is a tough negotiator to say the least.

Thus, any talk of a winter move to Manchester United is wide of the mark for the time being, unless they are willing to pay far above that €50m price tag on him from next summer.