Italian professional football Serie A coach Jose Mourinho (60, Portugal), who leads AS Roma, wanted to recruit Korean “monster defender” Kim Min-jae (27), but had to give up on the club’s unsatisfactory response. He revealed an anecdote during his Tottenham (England) days.
According to British Talk Sports, coach Mourinho mentioned Kim Min-jae, saying, “I will tell you about one Napoli player” at a press conference ahead of the 2022-2023 Serie A round 20 away match with Napoli on the 28th (local time).
Coach Mourinho said, “I had a video call with the player. I wanted to sign him during Tottenham days, but Tottenham didn’t help me.”
“(At the time) it cost 10 million euros (about 13.4 billion won) to bring the player, but Tottenham only offered 5 million euros,” he said. ” he pinched.
In November 2019, he took the helm of Tottenham as the successor to former coach Mauricio Pochettino and coached Son Heung-min (31) for about a year and a half.
Coach Mourinho said, “I had video calls with that friend two or three times. He really wanted to come (to Tottenham), but he couldn’t.”
At the time, it is speculated that Tottenham was not active in recruiting because it did not trust Mourinho’s discernment and underestimated Kim Min-jae. 메이저놀이터
During Mourinho’s tenure at Tottenham, Kim Min-jae was playing for Beijing Guoan (China).
If things went as he envisioned, Kim Min-jae and Son Heung-min would have eaten together not only in the national team but also in Tottenham.
Coach Mourinho pointed out that Napoli, with Kim Min-jae guarding the rear, has virtually confirmed the league championship.
“I think Napoli has already won the scudetto (the shield pattern that the winning team will put on next season’s uniform). I congratulate them for being such a worthy team,” he said. .
At the same time, he also conveyed his fighting spirit, saying, “We are also going on an expedition to get results,” and said that he would not back down from the confrontation.
With 16 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in 19 league games, Napoli (50 points) has secured its lead early on.
The difference between 2nd place Inter Milan (13 wins, 1 draw, 6 losses, 40 points) is 10, and 12 points from 3rd place AC Milan (11 wins, 5 draws, 3 losses, 38 points).
Kim Min-jae’s contribution to Napoli’s high-altitude march is not insignificant.
Kim Min-jae, who was picked as a resource to fill the void of Kalidou Koulibaly, the defender of the team who left for Chelsea (England), has played 18 out of 19 league games and leads Napoli with the fewest goals.
Napoli conceded only 14 goals while scoring 46 goals, the best figure among 20 Serie A teams.
Roma (37 points) is in 6th place with 11 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses. The match between the two teams kicks off at 4:45 a.m. on the 30th, Korean time.