MANCHESTER UNITED have been dealt a huge blow in their pursuit of Napoli and South Korea centre-back Kim Min Jae.
Kim was instrumental in helping Napoli to their first Serie A title since 1990, making 45 appearances at the heart of their defence.
He has been one of Erik Ten Hag’s top targets since the beginning of the window but United are in serious risk of missing out on the defender according to Fabrizio Romano.
The defender has a £42.6million release clause in his Napoli contract, with Napoli being unable to stop him from leaving if this is activated.
Romano reports that while United were in advanced talks to sign Kim, they never confirmed to Napoli that they would pay his release clause.
That opened the door for Bayern Munich who have agreed a five-year deal with the defender.
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He is likely to join the German giants when the clause becomes active on July 1st.
Romano tweeted: “The agreement between Bayern and Kim Min-Jae is at final stages, details to be sorted on a five-year-deal.
“He’s prepared to accept, not signed yet,
“The release clause will become valid on July 1 – unless other clubs send new bigger salary proposal next week, Kim will join Bayern.”
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While United could yet submit a better proposal than Bayern, Romano said in a later tweet that the club have already begun looking at alternatives.
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United will look at Monaco defender Axel Disasi and Nice centre-back Jean Clair Todibo.
Both are adept with the ball at their feet and would be a valuable part of Ten Hag’s attempt to implement a more posessional style of play in his second season.
Disasi, 25, is a highly rated French international who was included in his country’s World Cup squad.
So far he has made four appearances for the national side.
The defender has made 129 appearances for Monaco since joining from Reims in 2020.
Todibo, 23, represents a younger alternative.
He has had a varied career despite his age, having joined Barcelona as a youngster in 2019.
Following loans to Schalke and Benfica, he signed for Nice in 2021 and has made 103 appearances for the club.
Todibo has said that as a youngster he idolised Andrea Pirlo, which goes some way to explaining his slick passing style despite being a defender.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
