Kim Min-jae ( ko, 김민재; born 15 November 1996) is a South Korean professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a centre-back for club

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and the South Korea national team.

Early life

Kim was born in

Tongyeong Tongyeong () is a coastal city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. In 2010, it had an area of and a population of 139,869 people. It is divided into 1 eup (town), 6 myeon (township) and 11 dong (neighborhood). Chungmu city and Tongyeong cou ...

. Both of his parents are former athletes and his brother was also a

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Myongji University Myongji University () is a private, Christian university founded in 1948 in South Korea. It provides higher education in the fields of engineering, sciences and humanities. It has two campuses: the Social Science Campus is located in Seoul and ...

. Kim started his youth football career with the football club of Tongyeong Elementary School. He later transferred to Gaya Elementary School in

Haman Haman ( ; also known as Haman the Agagite or Haman the evil) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Persian empire under King Ahasuerus, commonly identified as Xerxes I ...

and graduated from there. He entered Yeoncho Middle School and Suwon Technical High School which has produced many international footballers such as

Park Ji-sung Park Ji-sung (; ; born 30 March 1981) is a South Korean former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in the South Korean capital Seoul, Park is the most successful Asian player in football history, having won 19 trophies in ...

and Kim Sun-min. After he graduated from high school in 2015, he went on to

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the " SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in th ...

. In July 2016, when he was sophomore, he dropped out of school to fulfill his dream of making his professional debut, although Yonsei University tried to dissuade him.

Club career

Gyeongju KHNP

Kim joined semi-professional club Gyeongju KHNP on 1 July 2016, and participated in the

Korea National League The Korea National League was a South Korean semi-professional football league held annually from 2003 to 2019. It was considered the second-highest division of the South Korean football league system before the K League 2 was launched in 2013 ...

since the middle of the 2016 season. Kim played 15 matches for KHNP until the end of the regular season, leading his team to the play-offs. On 2 November, Kim played the quarter-final game of the play-offs for 78 minutes, contributing to a 2–0 victory over Changwon City. On 5 November, however, he failed to help KHNP advance to the final despite playing as a full-time player in the semi-final game against

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Hyundai Mipo Dockyard is one of the largest shipbuilding companies with world share rank 1 (50%) in PC (Product Carrier). Since the 1980s, more than 10,000 ships were repaired and converted until 2005 and 400 newly ordered ships were delivered ...

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

On 22 December 2016, Kim joined K League club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on a free transfer. Jeonbuk manager Choi Kang-hee expressed his expectancy about him during the pre-season training camps in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, and used him as a key player from the beginning. Kim made his debut goal for his career in a K League 1 match against

Daegu FC Daegu FC ( Korean: 대구 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Daegu. The club was founded as a community club at the end of 2002, and made their K League 1 debut in 2003. Daegu has played mostly in the K League 1 but was rel ...

on 25 June 2017. He scored his second goal for Jeonbuk against

Gwangju FC Gwangju FC (Korean: 광주 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Gwangju that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. They joined the K League in the 2011 season. History Gwangju FC was founded ...

with a mid-range volley on 19 August. He was ousted from the game against

Sangju Sangmu Gimcheon Sangmu FC (Hangul: 김천 상무 프로축구단; Hanja: 金泉尚武 프로蹴球團) is a South Korean professional association football club based in Gimcheon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. ...

for warnings accumulated on 20 September. On 15 October, it turned out that Kim suffered a semilunar valve injury and for this reason Kim had to have surgery in Japan, being unable to play remaining games of the season. With his performance, he was named the

K League Young Player of the Year The K League Young Player of the Year Award means the best player among under-23 K League players. This award has been awarded since the 1985 season, the third season in the K League. K League 1 winners (1985–present) Rookie of the Year (198 ...

and nominated for a part of the

K League Best XI The K League Best XI is an award for the best eleven players in a K League season. K League 1 award (1983–present) Winners Players marked bold won the Most Valuable Player award in that respective year. Appearances by player Appearanc ...

, although he was shown nine yellow cards and one red card during 29 appearances. Kim made his first AFC Champions League debut in a 3–2 victory over

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium ...

on 13 February 2018. Kim scored his first goal of the 2018 season with a header as well as showing strong defense in a K League 1 match against FC Seoul on 18 March, and was named the MVP of the week. Afterwards, he led Jeonbuk's defense to six consecutive clean sheets. Unfortunately, however, Kim suffered from a

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity i ...

injury in a match against

on 2 May, absenting himself from the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Beijing Guoan

On 29 January 2019, Kim transferred to Beijing Sinobo Guoan. With his impressive defensive performance, Kim went on to play an integral role in Beijing's runner-up finish in the 2019 CSL Season. In May 2020, Kim engendered controversy by expressing dissatisfaction about Beijing teammates' method of play in a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel, which was being operated by a South Korean football commentator, after his wedding in South Korea. At a similar time, he received intensive attention from a wide range of European clubs, and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

manager José Mourinho tried to recruit him. However, Tottenham didn't want to pay more than €5 million for Kim, and it failed to negotiate with Beijing, which demanded €10 million.

Fenerbahçe

Kim transferred to Fenerbahçe on 16 August 2021 with a transfer fee of €3 million and signed a 4-year contract. Kim won the most number of unclaimed balls and won the most tackles among Fenerbahçe defenders in his first match for Fenerbahçe against

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Antalya. The club's colours are red and white. They play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the club won the First League twice in 1982 and ...

on 22 August. He made his European debut in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

Group D match against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

on 16 September. Two days after receiving his first red card in the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

against

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

on 17 October, Kim said "This was a first for me in my 5-year career playing football at the highest level, I guess we have to have such experiences in Turkey." Kim led Fenerbahçe to a 2-1 victory by making the most passes and blocks in

the Intercontinental Derby The Intercontinental Derby ( tr, Kıtalararası Derbi) is any footballSee The Intercontinental Derby (basketball) for the same rivalry in basketball match between rivals Fenerbahçe SK and Galatasaray SK. The fixture is widely regarded as the b ...

on 21 November, and was selected as the man of the match by Fenerbahçe fans with 76.3 percent of the votes. Kim scored his first goal for Fenerbahçe against

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club) is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya. They are better known as Konyaspor. In 1922 Konyaspor were founded with the name Konya Gençlerbirliği and have played at their current home stadium ...

on 20 March 2022. At the end of the 2021–22 season,

International Centre for Sports Studies The International Centre for Sports Studies, known mostly by the initials CIES from the French ''Centre International d'Etude du Sport'', is an independent, research and education organization, located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It had a resea ...

(CIES),

FIFA 22 ''FIFA 22'' is a football simulation video game published by Electronic Arts. It is the 29th installment in the '' FIFA series'', and was released worldwide on 1 October 2021 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Windo ...

and

Opta Sports Opta Sports, formerly Opta Sportsdata, is a British sports analytics company. Opta provides data for 30 sports in 70 countries, with clients ranging from leagues to broadcasters and betting websites. The company was founded in 1996, and acquire ...

selected Kim for the Süper Lig Team of the Season.

Napoli

On 27 July 2022, Kim signed for

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club

for a reported fee of €18.05 million, as a replacement for

Kalidou Koulibaly Kalidou Koulibaly (born 20 June 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Chelsea and the Senegal national team. Koulibaly began his professional club career with French team Metz in 2010, before mo ...

, who departed to join

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. He was named Serie A player of the month for September 2022, in his second month at Italy.

International career

On 14 August 2017, Kim was named in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

's squad for the last two qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

. In a qualifier against Iran on 31 August 2017, Kim made his international debut as a starter and sent off Iranian player

Saeid Ezatolahi Saeid Ezatolahi Afagh ( fa, سعید عزت‌اللهی آفاق; born 1 October 1996) is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Danish club Vejle and the Iran national team. Ezatolahi came up through Mal ...

as well as showing great defense for 84 minutes. On 5 September, Kim played as a full-time player against

, helping South Korea keep one more clean sheet. After these matches, South Korea qualified for the ninth consecutive

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. But he was injured on 8 May 2018 and unable to take part in 2018 FIFA World Cup. On 1 September 2018, South Korea defeated Japan 2–1 in the gold medal match of the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 Augus ...

. As a result of this victory, Kim and his teammates received an exemption from military service, reducing the two-year conscription to just a few weeks of basic training.

Style of play

As a central defender, Kim has excellent physical attributes, notably his strength, speed, and flexibility. Kim has a strong predictive ability in defense, and can often start and finish plays when the team advances. His long pass accuracy enables him to immediately hit the ball after the steal to complete a quick counterattack, and his excellent aerial ability and positioning allows him to perform headers to break up opposition attacks and start offensive plays.

Personal life

January 2021, Kim was appointed as an ambassador for the Purme Foundation. He decided to contribute to the rehabilitation of children with disabilities and the independence of young people with disabilities, and donated ₩50 million.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kim goal.''

Honours

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors *

K League 1 The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

South Korea U23 * Asian Games:

South Korea * EAFF Championship:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual * K League 1 Young Player of the Year:

* K League 1 Best XI:

* AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament:

* EAFF Championship Best Defender:

* Serie A Player of the Month: September 2022 * AIC Serie A Player of the Month: October 2022

References

External links

Profile
at the S.S.C. Napoli website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Min-jae 1996 births Living people Association football central defenders South Korean footballers South Korea under-20 international footballers South Korea under-23 international footballers South Korea international footballers Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors players Beijing Guoan F.C. players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers S.S.C. Napoli players K League 1 players Chinese Super League players Korea National League players Süper Lig players Serie A players People from Tongyeong Footballers at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in football Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games 2019 AFC Asian Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players South Korean expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate footballers in China South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Sportspeople from South Gyeongsang Province