Manchester United signed Matthijs de Ligt last summer and will be pretty pleased with his first season at Old Trafford.
Ineos decided to keep Erik ten Hag in the Manchester United hot seat, having watched him win the FA Cup last year.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe accepts keeping Ten Hag was a mistake, as the Dutchman was later sacked in October.
Ten Hag was backed over the summer and was even allowed to bring in two defenders from his Ajax days.
Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui joined United from Bayern Munich, arriving at Old Trafford together having played under Ten Hag in Amsterdam.
Ruben Amorim has praised De Ligt, with the defender ultimately impressing over the course of the season despite a shaky start.
Kim Min-jae now following Matthijs de Ligt path
United may still be in the market for a defender this summer with Amorim playing three centre backs in his 3-4-2-1 system.
One name heavily linked with United over the years is Kim Min-jae.
Back in the summer of 2023, United were heavily linked with Kim as he and Napoli won the Serie A title.
Kim ended up signing for Bayern Munich instead but now finds himself on the exact same path as De Ligt.
De Ligt arrived at Bayern from Serie A, spent two years at the club and was then offloaded to United.
Kim’s path is eerily similar; Italy to Bayern but now on the chopping block after two years in Bavaria.
Fabrizio Romano claims Kim is ‘not untouchable’ at Bayern and could leave the Bundesliga giants this summer.
Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg adds that ‘there is movement’ for Kim behind the scenes, with Bayern open to offers.
The South Korean – hailed as a ‘complete defender’ by Thomas Tuchel on the official Bundesliga website – has struggled at times this season, and whilst an injury has been causing problems, he could find himself on the move again.
United should avoid Kim Min-jae
We would understand if United had some level of interest in signing Kim this summer.
The 28-year-old is still a very strong defender and his stats above, supplied by SofaScore, show how he has been rated higher than De Ligt in many aspects.
Kim was on United’s wish list for a reason in 2023; he was brilliant for Napoli and could get back to that level elsewhere.
United’s approach has changed, though, with Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 asking different questions for his centre backs.
Kim would be another defender who would be better off in the middle of the back three – just like De Ligt and Harry Maguire.
United need to recruit defenders who fit well as the outside centre backs, either on the left or right side.
Kim doesn’t fit that bill and, having missed out in 2023, United should forget about the Bayern defender and move on to players who would fit more naturally under Amorim.
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