Kim Min-jae, the South Korean centre-back who recently joined SSC Napoli, has made a successful debut in Italy’s Serie A. Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti has bragged about it, saying Kim was perfect in different circumstances.
On Tuesday, Kim made the starting line-up as a left centre-back in the away game against Hella Verona FC. It was the South Korean’s first official appearance in 20 days since moving to Napoli from Fenerbahçe SK on July 27.
According to the official Serie A match report, Kim possessed the ball 94 times during the game, passing all players from both teams. And he completed 74 accurate passes, which is also the most of both sides, scoring 90% passing accuracy. He delivered two assists and eight ball recoveries, a second in his team. Throughout the game, Kim covered 5.927 kilometers, the second longest on his team and the most mileage among any defender. During extra time in the second half, he received a warning from an enthusiastic defence.
“Kim was alert and his physique is excellent. His defense is impeccable and majestic. In certain circumstances he looked like Koulibaly,” Spalletti praised after the match. He was referring to Kalidou Koulibaly, who had played for Napoli for eight seasons before of moving to Chelsea last season.In a way, the Italian manager said he was happy with Kim, who was brought in to fill the void left by Koulibaly.
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