Will there be another Korean central defender who is active on the European stage following the ‘monster defender’ Kim Min-jae (27‧ Naples)? The protagonist whose potential is growing is 19-year-old Kim Ji-soo, who signed a semi-professional contract with Seongnam FC last year.
Seongnam club said on the 17th, “Brentford, an English Premier League (EPL) club, has officially announced its intention to recruit Kim Ji-soo.”
Brentford sent an official offer, including a buyout (minimum transferable amount) of 700,000 dollars (approximately 930 million won) and a cell-on clause set by Seongnam to recruit Kim Ji-soo. The cell-on provision is to distribute a certain percentage of the transfer fee that occurs when Kim Ji-soo transfers from Brentford to another club in the future to the Seongnam club, the exact ratio is unknown.
Since Brentford suggested a buyout, the transfer now depends on Kim Ji-soo’s choice. If Kim Ji-soo wants a new challenge, Seongnam cannot catch him.
The Seongnam club said, “Kim Ji-su is currently leaving for South America to participate in the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Argentina. After the tournament, he plans to talk with the player.”
Kim Ji-soo, who grew up in Seongnam’s youth team, is familiar to K-League fans, but is still a new face to the public. He debuted안전놀이터 in the K-League 1 last year as a semi-professional and played 19 games. In particular, when Tottenham visited Korea last year, it was selected as the team K-League and faced Tottenham players.
Even after Seongnam was relegated to K-League 2 (second division) last year, Kim Ji-soo signed an official professional contract with the team and is active this season. Kim Ji-soo, who was recognized for his potential, also received attention from Bayern Munich (Germany) in January.
Of course, in order for Kim Ji-soo to play for Brentford, he has to get a work permit (work visa). To play in the EPL, you need a work permit, but the conditions are tricky to get it.
First of all, it is difficult for Kim Ji-soo to issue a work permit for participating in an A match. The EPL issues a work permit only when players from the 1st to 10th place in the FIFA rankings participate in more than 30% of A matches. The 11th to 20th place must participate at least 45%, and the 21st to 30th place must participate at least 60% to get a work permit. Korea ranks 27th in the FIFA rankings announced in April, and must play more than 60% of A matches, but Kim Ji-soo did not play a single game.
Another way is to generate a transfer fee of 10 million pounds (approximately 16.7 billion won), but Kim Ji-soo’s buyout amount falls far short of the standard.
It is known that former Korean national team coach Paulo Bento wrote a letter of recommendation, but this alone is not enough.
Therefore, if Kim Ji-soo leaves for Brentford, he can choose to play in another European league like Jung Sang-bin (21, Minnesota). Jung Sang-bin moved to Wolverhampton (England) in January of last year, but did not have a work permit, so he lived on loan at Granshofer (Switzerland).
Brentford, who is aiming for Kim Ji-soo, was promoted in the 2021-22 season and ranked 13th in the first season, and is currently ranked 9th this season.