Min-Jae Kim (27) is playing the starring role on FC Bayern’s trip to South Korea. Against his will
Min-Jae Kim seems to like the center of attention after all, even if he “doesn’t like it at all”. But here, in his native South Korea, it is he who attracts the attention of the hysterical supporters. Thomas Müller does too, and Jamal Musiala’s jersey is the best-selling in Seoul after that of the Bavarian veteran, but Kim, the rather reserved defender, is inevitably the figurehead of this FCB PR trip.
The 63-time international had already flown to South Korea on Wednesday, one day before his team-mates, and received Manuel Neuer and Co. at Seoul airport on Thursday. Captain Neuer was “a little surprised” when his central defender suddenly embraced him, “I had thought he was waiting for us at the hotel”. But “that was definitely a great gesture.”
And not the last: that same evening, Kim invited the team to a Korean barbecue. “There were also spicy noodles,” as Jamal Musiala reported on Friday at a Paulaner event, as usual in German-English. “They were great.”
Kim, the “fantastic host”, as press spokesman Dieter Nickles quickly dubbed him, is therefore well received, by his team-mates and in his home country anyway. “It’s special to experience this,” admitted even coach Vincent Kompany, who was on the road with all kinds of superstars when he was a player at Manchester City. “I think the way he handles it is impressive. “
Kompany expects “a reaction from everyone “
After a difficult debut year with a few ups and a lot of downs, Kim is now aiming to return to the strength that earned him the nickname “Monster” in South Korea and made him defender of the year in Serie A. “Last season doesn’t have to define the coming season for any player,” Kompany clarifies, but prefers to refer to the entire team: “I expect a reaction from everyone. So far, I’m seeing this every day in training and then hopefully in the games too. “
Kim is also in good spirits, especially thanks to the new coach. “I’m trying to learn as much as I can from him, to listen as much as I can,” the center-back says of the former center-back. “He likes defenders who push forward and work aggressively, and I try to take that with me.”
The “first proper preparation in years”, as he himself hopes, could help him – after all, this will be the first time without changing clubs since 2021. Back then, Kim moved from Beijing Guoan to Fenerbahce in Istanbul, from Fernerbahce to Napoli the following summer and from Napoli to Munich just one year later as a champion. “It depends on me,” he says, “how much I work. We have a new coach, new tactics and new players – how quickly can we come together?” Preferably just as quickly as on Thursday evening
