L’Equipe journalist Loic Tanzi has revealed that an unnamed Premier League club have stepped up their efforts to sign Fenerbahce centre-back Kim Min-jae, who is rumoured to be on Tottenham’s radar.
Tottenham have already strengthened their backline this summer with the signing of Clement Lenglet on a season-long loan deal from Barcelona.
However, reports indicate that Antonio Conte wants to add another centre-back to his squad (GiveMeSport), with Japhet Tanganga and Joe Rodon being linked with potential moves away from the North London club (Gazzetta dello Sport and Football Insider).
Kim is one of the names mooted to be on Conte’s radar, with Ekrem Konur stating last month that the Lilywhites could make a move for the South Korean on the back of his impressive first season in Turkish football.
Tanzi has now revealed that Lyon have stepped up their efforts to sign the Fenerbahce star over recent days, with the Ligue 1 club’s head of recruitment Florian Maurice allegedly flying to Turkey to push through a deal.
However, the journalist added that Lyon are now facing competition for Kim from an unnamed English club.
Tanzi stated that the centre-back has a release clause of €20m (£17m) in his contract with Fenerbahce, which can be paid over two instalments.
Florian Maurice est en Turquie pour tenter de finaliser le dossier Min-Jae. Toujours pas de décision définitive qui a filtré pour le moment #Mercato https://t.co/dHk6sygC8S
— Loïc Tanzi (@Tanziloic) July 16, 2022
However, Korean journalist Sungmo Lee has dismissed the speculation linking Kim with a move to Spurs this summer.
RE : Kim Min-jae to Tottenham (for those stories of 'hijacking').
In one word, "there's no truth" in those stories at this stage.(by 17th July) The situation could change in the transfer window, but there's nothing between the two parties at the moment.#Kimminjae #Tottenham
— 이성모 (Sungmo Lee) (@Sungmo_Lee) July 17, 2022
Spurs Web Opinion
If Tanganga and Rodon depart, that would leave Conte with five centre-back options for three positions. So, if we do bring another centre-back in, it is likely to be a relatively cheap option rather than a big-money signing. So, Kim might fit the bill for what Tottenham are looking for.
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