Man Utd target ‘disturbed’ by £43m transfer talks as private ‘meeting’ with Premier League club is revealed
Man Utd target ‘disturbed’ by £43m transfer talks as private ‘meeting’ with Premier League club is revealed –
Kim Min-jae has admitted that he gets “disturbed” by reports linking him with a move away from Napoli amid interest in him from Man Utd.
Min-jae only joined Napoli in the summer but he is already being linked with a move elsewhere as he has been in superb form for the Serie A side this season.
Napoli are top of the table in Italy and they are emerging as a potential candidate to win the Champions League this season.
They only paid around £15m to sign the centre-back in the summer from Fenerbache and he has taken no time to adapt to life in Italy.
Min-jae also shone for South Korea at the World Cup and this has fuelled talk that he could join Man Utd in the coming months.
There is a £43m release clause in his contract but Napoli are reportedly keen to offer him a new deal which does not include a buy-out clause.
Ex-Liverpool man Danny Murphy was impressed by Min-jae at the World Cup and he thinks the defender could cost eventually as much as £100m.
“I think his performances recently have been so good,” Murphy said.
“The clubs interested now. I was talking to someone this morning who was saying Manchester United are interested and they are talking £100m.
“That’s how quickly you can grow in this game, because they have been absolutely sensational Napoli to start to the season, him included.”
Man Utd are said to be in the market for a new centre-back with them being willing to sell Harry Maguire in January or the summer.
Min-jae is reportedly being eyed as his replacement. Journalist Antonio Corrado is reporting that the defender has already had a “meeting with a foreign club”.
“I can tell you that there was a meeting between Kim and his meeting with a foreign club at the Paradiso Hotel in Naples during the week before the match against Udinese. I couldn’t find out the name of the club.
“Whoever gave me the news, told me they spoke in English, but couldn’t get the name of the club. It’s no coincidence that Napoli immediately took steps to renew the player’s contract and eliminate the release clause.”
Gazzetta dello Sport reporter Mimmo Malfitano added: “So I’ll tell you: the club in question was Manchester United.”
Now Min-jae has spoken about reports on his future. He has admitted that he “avoids interviews” so he does not have to discuss transfer rumours.
“There are a lot of transfer stories around me, but I’ve only been at Napoli for six months,” Min-jae said (via Sport Witness).
“I’ve avoided interviews, and one of the reasons that the rumours about me disturb me.”
