Kim Ji-soo: Brentfords new centre-back who was on Bayern Munichs radar

May 29, 2024

When Brentford host Tottenham Hotspur on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season, football fans in South Korea will be hoping to watch one of the country’s greatest-ever players, Son Heung-min, battle it out with their latest rising star.

Kim Ji-soo joined Brentford last week on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee from K League 2 side Seongnam. Brentford were convinced to sign Kim after watching him excel for South Korea at this summer’s Under-20 World Cup.

The 18-year-old already has experience of facing Son. Last July, Spurs played a K League All-Star team during their pre-season tour of South Korea. Son came off the bench and scored twice. Kim played an unfortunate role in Son’s second goal when his pass across the box was intercepted by the forward, who then rounded the goalkeeper.

Brentford have high hopes for Kim, but the chances of him coming up against Son in the top flight anytime soon are slim. He will start by playing for the B team. He linked up with them on Thursday for the first day of pre-season. The long-term ambition is for Kim to break into the first-team squad and become a key figure at the back.

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Kim grew up in the city of Bucheon, which is around 15 miles away from Seoul — South Korea’s capital. He joined Seongnam’s academy and quickly progressed through their age groups before he was integrated into the first team in 2022. Kim was still studying at high school when he made his K League debut for Seongnam against Suwon Bluewings last May at the age of just 17. Kim made 19 appearances for Seongnam in the league that season but he was unable to prevent them from getting relegated.

Sungmo Lee is a South Korean journalist who has tracked Kim’s progress over the past couple of years. He says the defender is already drawing comparisons with his countryman Kim Min-jae, who helped Napoli win the title last season and is a transfer target for Bayern Munich.

“He is 192 centimetres tall (6ft 3ins) and weighs 84 kilograms, so he has great physical attributes,” Lee says. “He is right-footed, but great with both feet.

“In the K League, he played regularly as a left-sided and a right-sided centre-back. Seongnam switch between a back three and a back four, too. In the 2022 season, they had a lot of injury problems with their first-team centre-backs and Kim did well to provide cover.

“He has great passing ability, especially at making long passes from the back to help his team create chances. As he is still 18 years old, he needs to work on his composure when opponents press high up the pitch. He is not slow, but if he could add some more pace to his game then he could be even better.”

We can see a direct example of Kim’s expansive passing range in Seongnam’s 2-0 defeat to Gangwon in July 2022. Kim received the ball near the halfway line and the most obvious passing option was out wide on the left wing.

However, he stepped forward and hit a superb lofted pass with his left foot.

It landed perfectly between Gangwon’s two centre-backs for Goo Bon-cheul. The midfielder took a poor first touch, however, which allowed the defenders to recover. It was a great opportunity for Seongnam to score and it stemmed from Kim’s impressive vision.

Kim has an aggressive approach to defending and he likes to step in front of the striker at the last possible moment to pinch the ball.

South Korea were knocked out of the Under-20 Asian Cup in March in the semi-finals — on penalties after a 0-0 draw with Uzbekistan. In the first half, Uzbekistan launched a counter-attack through Zafarmurod Abdirahmatov. Forward Asadbek Joraboev made a darting run into the right channel and Kim pursued him.

Joraboev slowed down in anticipation of the ball and Kim made his move.

The defender muscled Joraboev out of the way, but the danger was not over just yet as Abdirahmatov charged towards him to win the ball back.

Kim remained calm under pressure and, just when it looked like he was going to be squashed by his opponents, slipped a pass towards Park Hyun-bin. It is essential for Thomas Frank that his centre-backs are comfortable on the ball, so the signs are encouraging for the future.

Kim’s performances at the Under-20 World Cup attracted the attention of a lot of clubs. South Korea beat France 2-1 and drew with Gambia and Honduras to finish second in their group. They earned victories over Ecuador and Nigeria in the knockout stages before they lost 2-1 to Italy when Simone Pafundi scored an 86th-minute winner.

Bayern Munich have a track record of developing talent from South Korea and they were interested in signing Kim. Lee Hyun-ju joined Bayern on loan from Pohang Steelers in January 2022 and the move was made permanent seven months later. Lee was directly involved in 11 goals in 20 appearances for Bayern’s reserves last season.

Jeong Woo-yeong joined Bayern’s academy at the age of 18 before he was sold after a year to Freiburg. The winger has made nearly 100 appearances in the Bundesliga and he was a member of South Korea’s squad at the World Cup.

Brentford deserve credit for convincing Kim they could provide him with a better pathway than Bayern.

In an interview with Korean media outlet Sports Donga, Kim revealed who he looks to for inspiration. “I watch videos of world-class defenders,” he said. “I want to have (Napoli defender) Kim Min-jae’s overwhelming speed, (Mats) Hummels’ positional sense and (Sergio) Ramos’ quick decision-making ability.”

If Kim manages to combine all of those attributes, then Brentford will be in possession of a real gem. And it will be only a matter of time before he makes his Premier League debut.

(Photo: Claudio Santana – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

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