Man United have started to make moves to sign a centre-back this summer and have identified a talent that Newcastle are now trying to hijack.
Napoli’s Kim Min-jae has emerged as a top defensive talent in recent months as the South Korean played a pivotal role in helping his team win the Serie A title this season. The 26-year-old was signed from Fenerbache last summer as the newly-crowned Italian champions looked to replace Kalidou Koulibaly, which worked to great success.
Kim is now attracting interest from England and Man United manager Erik ten Hag has made the defender his top defensive target heading into the upcoming transfer window.
Harry Maguire is expected to leave Old Trafford over the coming weeks and the Dutch coach wants solid options to choose from next season, but his pursuit of the South Korea international could get hijacked by Newcastle.
According to talkSPORT, Eddie Howe has identified Kim as the defender he would like to sign during the summer transfer window and the Magpies boss will likely pair him with Sven Botman next season – which looks very promising on paper.
The South Korean star has a release clause in his Napoli contract that is valid for the first half of July and both clubs will look to activate this in the near future.
This will likely come down to who Kim wants to play for as both have Champions League football and exciting projects.