The possibility of Lee Kang-in being selected for the Asian Games has increased.
Fabricio Romano, a transfer market expert, said on his SNS on the 15th (Korean time), “Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) made a positive decision on Lee Kang-in’s participation in the Asian Games on the 14th. They will soon allow his selection.” .
This is good news for the Asian Games national soccer team led by coach Hwang Seon-hong. The opening of the Hangzhou Asian Games is just around the corner. The competition begins on September 23, but the football schedule begins earlier. Korea, a member of Group E, will play its first group match against Kuwait on the 19th. They will then face Thailand on the 21st and the final match against Bahrain on the 24th.
Korea’s goal is to win three consecutive gold medals. In the 2018 tournament, they won the championship with key national team members such as Son Heung-min, Hwang Ui-jo, and Cho Hyun-woo joining as wild cards. Until now, no team has reached the top three times in a row. Korea is taking on a challenge for the first time in history.
However, a variable occurred even before it started. The question is whether Lee Kang-in will be selected. Coach Hwang Seon-hong also expressed his frustration in an interview after the convocation held at the Paju National Team Training Center on the 14th, saying, “It is a frustrating situation. 메이저사이트The association is coordinating with PSG, and I am personally communicating with Lee Kang-in. The player wants to join quickly.” I complained.
He said, “However, the timing of joining is not well coordinated with the PSG club. It would be nice to play 1-2 group stage games, but PSG seems to be placing conditions on it. We decided to contact you on the 13th, but there is no official response regarding the final joining date. “I didn’t receive it,” he said.
In addition, coach Hwang Seon-hong said, “First of all, the player himself said that it would be difficult for him to participate in the match against Nice held on the 16th as a member of PSG. The issue of condition is key. If Lee Kang-in joins from the tournament, there are many variables and it will be difficult to make a plan. “It’s frustrating, but I don’t think I’ll be able to join at all,” he said.
Lee Kang-in joined PSG this summer. He began learning European soccer in earnest in Spain when he joined Valencia’s youth academy as a child. Expectations were high for him when he made his first-team debut in a Valencia shirt five years ago, setting the record as the club’s youngest foreign player to appear.
However, he rarely got a chance to play in Valencia. Accordingly, Lee Kang-in decided to take on a new challenge. After finishing his spell with Valencia, he joined Mallorca as a free agent. This choice was excellent. In his first season, he spent an adjustment period going back and forth between starting and replacing. He played in 15 of the 30 Spanish La Liga matches as a starter.
And last season, his presence exploded. Lee Kang-in played 36 league games. He made 33 appearances as a starter and posted 6 goals and 6 assists. As a result, his value soared. According to the soccer statistics media ‘Transfermarkt’, Lee Kang-in’s price last summer was 6 million euros (about 8.6 billion won), but it has increased almost four-fold in one year to 22 million euros (about 31.5 billion won).
There were also transfer rumors. He was initially linked with Atletico Madrid, but negotiations broke down due to transfer fee issues. And PSG quickly emerged as a new candidate. It took some time to get official. This is because PSG had problems that needed to be resolved before recruiting Lee Kang-in.
Changing the command tower was one of them. Finally, on the 6th, coach Christophe Galtier was appointed as coach Luis Enrique. Afterwards, announcements of players whose transfers were imminent began to come out one after another. Milan Skriniar, Marco Asensio, and Manuel Ugarte were the first to make official announcements.
Next was Lee Kang-in. Lee Kang-in signed a five-year contract with PSG and plays with jersey number 19. Lee Kang-in started as a starter against Le Havre in his first pre-season game. He was positioned up front in a 4-3-3 formation along with Ismael Garbi and Asensio. He played a key role in the attack, moving between the side and the center, and showed impressive physical skills.
Regarding this, ‘PSG Talk’, a PSG source, said positively, “One of the standout signings this summer is Lee Kang-in. He performed impressively in a friendly match against Le Havre. He broke through the opponent’s pressure and showed excellent footwork.” It was also evaluated as .
However, Lee Kang-in was soon replaced due to injury. I touched his thigh and left the field. Fortunately, the injury was not serious. Lee Kang-in, who was included in the Asian tour list, returned to training during the Japan schedule. Although he missed all three games he played in Japan, he came on as a second-half substitute in a friendly match against Jeonbuk Hyundai.
Afterwards, Lee Kang-in started in the opening game of Ligue 1 in the 2023-24 season. After making a positive impression, he made back-to-back starts until the second round. However, soon after, news of the injury came. Regarding Lee Kang-in’s injury, PSG said, “We will focus on recovery until the international break in September.”
Because of this, Lee Kang-in was not called up to the A national team this time. Fortunately, he has now overcome his injury and is on the verge of returning. First of all, it is unlikely that there will be any games this coming weekend, but the UEFA Champions League (UCL) schedule will begin next week. Lee Kang-in was also included in the UCL list.
Originally, Lee Kang-in is likely to make his debut in the first game of the group stage, but if he is selected for the 2023 Asian Games, he is expected to be able to play in about 3-4 games. For PSG, each and every player is precious. They were in Group F along with Dortmund, AC Milan and Newcastle United. They are evaluated as the group of death.
Accordingly, it appears that they have postponed an answer regarding Lee Kang-in’s selection status for the Asian Games. However, according to Reporter Romano’s report, it is currently highly likely that he will join Hwang Seon-hong. However, attention is focused on the timing of joining. Even if he joins as quickly as possible, the likelihood of him playing in the first match against Kuwait is not high.