Two-year-old Fenerbahce's new CB "I want to be like Kim Min-jae" Aspiration

"I want to follow in Kim Min-jae's footsteps."

Turkiyen media Sporx reported on the 25th (Korea Standard Time) that Fenerbahce defender wanted to imitate his team's senior Kim Min-jae.

Fenerbahce defender Alexander Ziku is a Ghanaian defender who joined Fenerbahce this summer. He is two years older than Kim Min-jae and has mainly played in French stages such as Bastia, Caen, and Strasbourg.

In an interview with the media, Ziku said, "I chose to transfer to Fenerbahce for a number of reasons. There was a passion for the project. I heard that they want to create the best competitive team by recruiting several top celebrities. That's how I heard he wanted to win the European competition," he said, explaining why he decided to move.

In the meantime, Ziku specifically mentioned Kim Min-jae. "We've seen a lot of players who have moved from Fenerbahce to bigger clubs. Kim Min-jae signed with Napoli. I would like to take Arda Gier, who went to Real Madrid, including Kim Min-jae, and Simone Kier, who went to Seville, as examples. "It is the right stepping stone to growing your career that you do not stay in a more grown and stable place," he said, expressing his aspiration to take a higher leap in recognition of his performance at Fenerbahce.

Kim Min-jae transferred from Beijing Guoan (China) to Fenerbahce in the summer of 2021. Having occupied the Chinese Super League after moving from Jeonbuk to Beijing in 2019, he was able to enter the Turkiye under the impression of Victor Pereira, who spent his managerial career on the Chinese stage.

Kim Min-jae, who took his first career European stage, immediately occupied the Turkiye Schiffer League. Despite his tall height of 190 centimeters, he blocked all of his opponents from attacking the back space with fast speed. In particular, Fenerbahce, who tried to attack by raising the line high, believed in Kim Min-jae and was able to do this.

Matching the center back combination with Attila Salai, Kim Min-jae played 31 league games and 2,674 minutes and earned the honor of making the team of the year in his league debut season.

Many big club scouts in the Turkiye Schiffer League put Kim Min-jae on the list and became a hot potato in the summer 2022 transfer market. Kim Min-jae's choice was Serie A's prestigious Napoli. Kim Min-jae, who paid 28 million euros (about 40 billion won) for a buyout, took off again.

Kim Min-jae, who immediately became the main center back in Napoli right after the transfer, supported Napoli's unconventional offensive football by utilizing his strengths, personal defense and fast speed. Kim Min-jae built Napoli's wall while Victor Osimhen and Hvicha Kvarachelia tore apart the opponent's defense.

Kim Min-jae played 3878 minutes in 45 official matches, including 35 Serie A games and 3054 minutes in the 2022/23 season, and became the first contributor to Napoli's first Serie A victory in 33 years. Napoli not only produced the top scorer (Oshimen) and MVP (Hvicha), but also produced the best defender (Kim Min-jae) in Serie A.

Kim Min-jae, who became the best defender in Serie A, received attention from big clubs in the big leagues this time. There were opportunities to go to the Premier League, including Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton (England), but the situation changed with the emergence of Bayern Munich (Germany), a prestigious Bundesliga team.

So this summer, Kim Min-jae moved to Munich again after a year. Munich responded by paying 50 million euros (about 71.4 billion won) in buyouts. Kim Min-jae remains virtually alone as a center back in Munich, continuing his strong performance. He is continuing his performance by playing full-time in 15 consecutive games. 스포츠중계