Tottenham Hotspur are set to face fresh competition from Chelsea in the pursuit of Beijing Guoan defender Kim Min-jae.
According to The Mirror, Tottenham Hotspur have stepped up their efforts in the pursuit of Kim Min-jae. In an attempt to further bolster his defensive options, Jose Mourinho is plotting a move to sign the Beijing Guoan defender, who is regarded as one of the best defensive prospects in Asia at the moment.
Spurs’ reinforced efforts to sign Kim signals their concern over Chelsea, who believed to have entered the race to sign the 24-year-old. It could open up an interesting transfer duel, especially with Beijing Guoan ready to cash in on their star player. To spice things up even more, the Chinese capital club is now being coached by former West Ham and West Brom manager Slaven Bilic, who had only joined this season.
It appears Tottenham may have the upper hand in the pursuit of Kim, who is close friends with international teammate and Spurs superstar Son Heung-Min. The two play together with the South Korean national team and the defender would certainly enjoy teaming up with Son in north London.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfwoJo31Ig4
However, Chelsea are no slouch, as they are one of few clubs who are not financially affected amid the Coronavirus pandemic, largely thanks to Roman Abramovich. The Russian has already backed the club’s financially driven overhaul under Frank Lampard that saw the Blues spend more money than any other team in Europe this summer.
And given the intent Chelsea have shown, even after the acquisitions of Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, it won’t be surprising to them going all out for Kim as well. In fact, he might turn out to be one of their priorities as Lampard prepares for life without Silva.
The Brazillian has done an excellent since arriving from PSG in the summer. But at the age of 36, Chelsea need to find a long-term partner for Kurt Zouma in defence. And that is where someone like Kim could come in handy, especially with his towering 6ft 3inch figure and no-nonsense defensive attitude.
Kim’s style of play also makes him a tailor-made fit for Mourinho’s defence-oriented philosophy. And the Portuguese mastermind would certainly favour the Beijing Guoan star as his desired alternative for Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier. Hence, it will be interesting to see how this transfer saga takes shape within the next couple of weeks as the Spurs manager looks to pip his former employers in the pursuit of the South Korean international.
