It was only last summer that Minjae Kim moved from SSC Napoli to FC Bayern. The 27-year-old was actually supposed to take on a leading role in defence. After a promising start to the season, the South Korean has lost his regular place under Thomas Tuchel. Now Bayern are apparently even discussing the possible sale of the centre-back.
The Bayern bosses around sporting director Max Eberl can certainly imagine selling Kim in the summer, but want to make the decision dependent on the new coach, as transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reports. Whoever becomes the new coach at FC Bayern – a greater say in transfer decisions than before is considered likely.
According to the report, those responsible want to decide together with the new coach which players should be sold in the summer. Apparently, Kim is not the only player up for discussion: Dayot Upamecano’s whereabouts are also uncertain.
Centre-back duo banish Kim to the bench
The Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport recently reported that Inter Milan are very interested in signing Kim and are monitoring his situation very closely.
According to the report, the Italian top club were already interested in signing Kim in the summer of 2023, but were beaten to the punch by Bayern in their bid to sign the centre-back. Kim is still highly regarded in Serie A and his strong performances at SSC Napoli are still fondly remembered.
Since the Asian Cup at the latest, Kim has lost his regular place. He last played the full 90 minutes in the Bundesliga on 1 March in the 2:2 draw against SC Freiburg. The South Korean was also only on the bench in the second leg of the Premier League tie against Lazio Roma.
In central defence, head coach Thomas Tuchel has recently been relying on Matthijs de Ligt and Eric Dier, who have defended their starting positions with strong performances. Tuchel also emphasised that he currently sees no reason to make any changes to this duo.
