Agents admit Manchester United have been watching £43m target for years

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Premier League giants Manchester United have been scouting Kim Min-Jae since Napoli’s Serie A winning centre-half was plying his trade in China between 2019 and 2021.

That is according to the South Korea international’s entourage, informing Star News that reports of an imminent £43 million switch to Old Trafford are premature.

Italian publication Il Mattino had suggested that there were only a few ‘details’ missing before Kim Min-Jae became Erik ten Hag’s first signing of the summer.

But with Financial Fair Play pressures meaning United will first have to get the likes of Harry Maguire off the books before bringing in a replacement – and with the takeover battle still dragging on – Kim is likely to be a name Ten Hag and co return to later down the line, even if his £43 million release clause is due to expire in mid-July. 

Is Napoli’s Kim Min-Jae heading to Old Trafford?

Manchester United, according to Kim’s encourage, are long-time admirers of the ‘Korean Virgil van Dijk’.

“United have been interested in Kim since he was in China,” they explain, via Fabrizio Romano. “We only spoke (at the time).

“But there has been no concrete contact.”

The 26-year-old, meanwhile, possesses just about every attribute you could want from a centre-half. Kim combines the positional sense and defensive discipline of Raphael Varane with the progressiveness and the composure in possession of Lisandro Martinez.

His ability to play in both right-sided and left-sided roles is also likely to appeal to Ten Hag.

Manchester United, meanwhile, are not the only Premier League side who took notice of Kim during his two-year spell at Chinese Super League outfit Beijing Guoan.

And where would relegation-threatened Everton be now if they had picked up the ‘world’s best centre-half’ for a fraction of his now-£43 million price-tag?

“I followed him at Everton three years ago,” recalls former Toffees scout Carlo Jacomuzzi.

“We had a good opinion of the boy. But it seemed too big a leap for him to move from Asia to Europe.”

Kim eventually left China for Turkish giants Fenerbahce in 2021. Now at Napoli, he proved to be a key cog in Luciano Spalletti’s machine with a first Scudetto in 33 years secured.