Paris Saint-Germain will have a pre-season friendly match against Jeonbuk Hyundai at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium at 5:00 pm on the 3rd. Previously, PSG played three games on a tour of Japan. The result is 1 draw and 2 losses. They drew with Al Nasr (Saudi Arabia) and lost consecutively to Cerezo Osaka (Japan) and Inter Milan (Italy).
Attention is focusing on whether Lee Kang-in will play. First of all, France’s “90min” reported on the 2nd that “Fresnel Kimpembe, who has been injured for a long time, will not play in this pre-season game,” adding, “He can play for a few minutes.”
PSG has undergone a big change this summer, and the head coach has changed first. Christophe Galtier, who led the team until last season, left and Luis Enrique took the helm. He has led Barcelona and the Spanish national soccer team, and has achieved a treble, especially winning the UEFA Champions League (UCL), which was the goal of the PSG club when he was in Barcelona.
PSG added a new face to the squad after Enrique took over. With Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos gone, Marco Asensio, Milan Skriniar, Luca Hernandez, Manuel Ugarte and Cher Ndur joined.
Lee Kang-in was one of them. Lee Kang-in is from the Valencia Youth Academy. Having experienced European football early at his young age, he also made his professional debut with Valencia in 2018. At the time, Lee Kang-in participated in the Copa del Rey at the age of 17 years, 8 months and 11 days. He broke the record for the youngest foreign debutant in the club’s history.
But after that, I didn’t get enough opportunities to participate. In the end, Lee Kang-in ended his company with Valencia and chose to transfer. His destination was Mallorca. In his first season with Mallorca, Lee Kang-in played 30 games, going back and forth between starting and replacing. And his presence exploded last season. Lee Kang-in was trusted by coach Javier Aguirre and played an active role as a key player.
Lee Kang-in played in 36 games in La Liga, Spain, of which he played 33 times as a starter. As his playing time increased, he made a huge impact in every game. He ended the season with an impressive record of six goals and six assists. He was also named Spain’s La Liga team midfielder of the year.
Naturally, Lee Kang-in’s value soared and his ransom also rose. According to the soccer statistics media “Transfermarkt,” Lee Kang-in’s market value was 6 million euros (about 8.5 billion won) before the start of last season, but it quadrupled to 22 million euros (about 31.1 billion won) in a year.
There were also rumors of a transfer after the season ended. Atletico Madrid, which has shown interest since January, was mentioned as a potential candidate, but disagreements arose over the transfer fee. With negotiations finally breaking down, PSG emerged as a candidate for a new destination. Some time was delayed as PSG and Mallorca continued to talk about the transfer fee negotiations.
The transfer work continued, and eventually the news of the transfer fee agreement between PSG and Mallorca was delivered. In early July, reporter Mateo Moreto of Spain’s ‘Lelevo’ said on his SNS, “The transfer fee agreement between Mallorca and PSG has been completed. The amount is 22 million euros.”
Not long after, the official came out. Lee Kang-in signed a 5-year contract with PSG. He was also assigned the number 19 shirt he wore for Mallorca.
Lee Kang-in explained himself through the club’s homepage. He appealed, “I can play in a variety of positions. I am a central midfielder, but I can also play on the left and right sides. I am also a technical player who feels very comfortable when holding the ball.”
“I am a player with a desire and thirst for victory. I am here to help the team win. And I want PSG to win every game and lift as many trophies as possible.” .
Lee Kang-in left a strong impression in the first game of the preseason. PSG played an evaluation match against Le Havre on the 22nd of last month. Lee Kang-in formed the top 3 with Ismael Garbi and Asensio based on the 4-3-3 formation. Lee Kang-in, who was positioned as the right striker, actively moved back and forth between the right and center. And he showed off great ball control and kicking power without regret.
Accordingly, ‘PSG Talk’, which reports PSG news, is positive, saying, “One of the outstanding signings this summer is Lee Kang-in. He performed impressively in a friendly match against Le Havre. He broke through the opponent’s pressure and showed excellent footwork.” evaluated as Fans were also surprised by Lee Kang-in’s play.
However, Lee Kang-in was replaced due to an early injury. In a situation where his body condition was not yet perfect, he left the ground touching his hamstring part, probably because he was overdoing it. It was a situation where he might not be able to properly digest the Asian tour depending on his injury condition. Fortunately, PSG did not deliver any special news about Lee Kang-in, and included him in the pre-season roster as scheduled.
However, in order to protect the players, it was decided to exclude them from training at the beginning of the Japanese tour. On the 24th, ‘France’ L’Equipe said, “Neymar participated in the entire training. However, it is unknown how much he will be able to play in the real world. ” reported.
“PSG Talk” also said, “Lee Kang-in was replaced because he felt pain in the last match against Le Havre,” adding, “I didn’t attend the training because there may be still an injury,” adding, “I shouldn’t be in a hurry until my physical condition is 100 percent.”
“Lee Kang-in is a new player who joined PSG this summer. “In the first pre-season game against Le Havre, I felt pain in my hamstring and was replaced,” he said. “I’m looking forward to filling the gap left by Kylian Mbappe.”
Nevertheless, France’s ‘PARIS TEAM’ said, “Lee Kang-in seems to have missed training in Japan due to an injury in the match against Le Havre. Like Tellier and Nuno Mendes, he would have stayed in Paris.”
In fact, Lee Kang-in returned to team training ahead of the match against Inter Milan. France’s ‘Top Mercato’ announced on the 30th, “Lee Kang-in participated in his first training in Tokyo. Lee Kang-in, who missed the last two matches held in Japan, is getting closer to returning.”
However, he did not play in the final game of the Japan tour, against Inter Milan. Lee Kang-in showed a bright appearance by sitting on the bench and laughing and playing with Neymar. From the perspective of coach Enrique and the club, it seems that there is no need to forcefully play a player who has recently been injured in a friendly game, and since there is a match against Jeonbuk soon, it seems that various situations are being considered.
After the game against Jeonbuk, PSG will now begin the 2023-24 season. PSG will play the French Ligue 1 opener against Lorient on the 13th of next month.
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