In recent years Asia’s growing influence on Western and European football has started to take shape.
Countries like Japan, South Korea, and China have seen tremendous growth and investment due to more players willing to relocate to western shores.
Growing up watching Premier League football, the number of players who came from Asia was relatively small. Manchester United’s Park Ji-Sung (Korea Republic) Manchester City’s Sun Jihi (China PR), and Everton’s Li Tie (China PR) were some of the names you’d see every week.
Now the Premier League has the likes of Son Heung-min (Spurs) and Japanese footballer Takumi Minamino (Liverpool), to name a couple
China’s growing influence on football.
Asian football, most notably China, has flexed its economic muscles and decided it wants a slice of the football’s massive economic pie.
Chinese President, Xi Jinping encouraged clubs to significantly increase funding into the sport in 2013. Superstars like, Tevez, Oscar, Hulk, Paulinho and many more made their way to the Chinese Super League for mouthwatering sums hitting as high as $820,000 a week, which adds up to £31.98 million GBP.
TV rights in China have already grown over the last four years by 400% and is expected to increase by another 500% in the upcoming six years. With more exposure comes a more significant interest in the league from Europe and more attention on who could be the next footballing icon to come out of Asia
Kim Min-Jae; The Monster
One footballer that I have picked is Beijing Guoan and South Korean international centre back Kim Min-Jae, nicknamed “The Monster”.
Kim Min-Jae started his career at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, a team in South Korea’s top flight. After being awarded the K League Young Player of the Year and nominated for a part of the K League Best XI, Kim Min-Jae was sold to Beijing Guoan in the Chinese Super League for $5 million in the 2018 season. Since then, Kim Min-Jae has gone on to win 30 caps for the South Korean national team at the age of 24.
The average height for South Korean men is 170.7 cm (5 ft 7 in), yet the Beijing Guoan centre back stands at 1.90 [c]m (6 ft 3 in). He is a substantial imposing figure, a term usually reserved for Serbians, the Dutch or individual footballers in Africa. It’s not hard to see why people call him “The Monster.”
While watching highlights of Kim, I picked out a couple of crucial attributes that the Korean excels in.
READ ALSO: Kazuyoshi Miura: Meet The World’s Oldest Player Who Is Still Going Strong At 52
Style of play
Beijing Guoan usually lines up in a 4-2-3-1 with Kim Min-Jae playing as the right-sided centre back. He is very comfortable on the ball and isn’t afraid to show for the ball and offer options to his goalkeeper and fellow players when pressed, and he’s adept at getting out of situations.
The Korean isn’t afraid to dribble out from the back while being hunted down by opposition forwards. He completed 0.5 dribbles per game last season and is very comfortable playing out.
Passing
Another component of Kim’s game is the ability to pass the ball long when he’s beaten the opposition team’s press. After dribbling out, Kim will distribute the ball to other areas of the pitch. He has often been labelled in the media as “The South Korean van Dijk“. The similarities are there.
The Korean has a pass success percentage of 90% and tries 4.8 long balls per game.
I asked Harry Brooks, a football coach/analyst on his thoughts:
For me, he’s like Maguire but much faster, better foot coordination and turning at speed. He’s good at carrying the ball out, good passer, composed but an assertive defender.
“But of course, the biggest question is the quality of the league compared to the Premier League so there are question marks of course if his defending/on the ball work is an accurate barometer to a bigger and better league. I think he has a profile that can make it work.”
Defending
Like Harry Maguire, he is quicker than meets the eye, can handle the ball in tight areas and excellent in aerial duels due to his immense size. When faced with winning the ball back one on one down the flank, the Korean makes it look so easy. He is rarely outmuscled when competing for a ball due to his tremendous strength.
During an interview, the Korean was asked about Real Madrid and Barcelona, he highlighted Madrid as the defensive attitude he admires most:
“The Real Madrid defenders are a bit rough, and while the Barcelona defenders are a bit soft. I personally like to hit.”
READ ALSO: Top Transfer Controversies In Football World Over The Years
Overall
Because of Kim’s mobility and intelligence, he doesn’t need to be overly aggressive because of how classy he is on the ball. His understanding of his defensive line, and when to break this sets him apart from his partners.
Tracking runners that go beyond the Beijing Guoan not sure what you want to say he’s going beyond here is another tool that the Korean possess.
The Monster has been linked to a host of clubs this season, none more so than Chelsea and Tottenham. The Korean has all the attributes to succeed in the Premier League, but it is tough to know when he’s played in a weaker league like the Chinese Super League.
I guess that he would make a superb signing for someone like Spurs and at the cost of £1.80m, it is a no-lose situation for someone like Spurs.
