Paris Saint-Germain source “PSG Talk” said on the 30th (Korea time), “Lee Kang-in has shown his potential over the past few weeks. David Ginola (56), a soccer expert (who played for Tottenham and Newcastle in the past), believes Lee Kang-in is the right person to take Messi’s place at PSG to Inter Miami.”
In the meantime, the media said, “22 year old Lee Kang-in is not a complete player. And the heyday has not even come yet. Nevertheless, Ginola appeared on the ‘Champions Club’ channel and mentioned Messi and Lee Kang-in.”
Ginola explained about Lee Kang-in through the channel, “He has had a left foot that resembles Messi’s left foot a lot since he played for Mallorca.”
“Lee Kang-in, who always shows a different way when helping with his left foot, is similar to the gestures and movements Messi made when he left Barcelona. I’m waiting for Lee Kang-in to blossom at PSG,” he added.
He also said, “Lee Kang-in can help PSG off the field. Because there is a possibility to dominate the Asian market.” This means that Lee Kang-in is highly anticipated as a player and in terms of marketing.
Immediately before his transition to PSG, he displayed truly exceptional performance in the season. He scored six goals and had seven assists (36 games played in the league) in La Liga, making him a career high. He also dribbled past 90 times, ranking second in La Liga’s most successful dribbling following Vinicius Junior (112 times). The figure represents an astonishing fourth place when expanding his scope to one of the five major leagues in Europe. 토토사이트
Lee Kang-in has grown vertically, complementing not only his sharp left-footed kick and fantastic de-pressure ability, but also his defense, speed and physical side, which were pointed out as weaknesses. He also joined the Korean national soccer team, which was once far away, and went to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, which ended in December last year. Lee Kang-in’s performance certainly has a stake in Mallorca, which gave him a chance.
And Lee Kang-in successfully transferred to PSG. According to Spanish media including Marca, the transfer fee amounts to 22 million euros.
When he had just arrived in France, Lee Kang-in said, “It’s amazing to be able to join PSG. PSG is one of the leading big clubs in the world and it has some of the greatest players. I can’t wait to start a new adventure.”
“A fast and technical midfielder, Lee Kang-in makes good use of his speed and left foot skills to make changes. He can play in any offensive position, moving back and forth from the center or side,” PSG said. “Lee Kang-in played a key role in staying at Mallorca last season, scoring six goals and seven assists. All he has left is for him to prove his worth on the highest level stage.”
And right after Lee Kang-in joined, opinions began to say that Lee Kang-in could succeed Messi due to his performance in La Liga. When Lee Kang-in came to PSG, Messi had just moved from PSG to Inter Miami, an American professional soccer league team.
Lee Kang-in has been playing the role of leading PSG’s offense this season. He has played 10 games, scored two goals and one assist in all of the games. He moves widely from the side to the center, and is performing well to break the stream of attack. This is the role Messi played in PSG.
In the 2023-2024 season, Lee started the opening game against Lorient in the Ligue 1 and played 82 minutes, recording the most number of ball touches (85 times) in his team. He also dribbled four times and succeeded three times. He showed a long pass success rate of 57 percent.
At the time, the Ligue 1 team praised Lee for his stellar performance in the position that was occupied by the great Argentine player (Messi). “Lee will be satisfied with his performance as the first Korean to become a PSG player.”
At the beginning of this season, Ginola’s remarks that the modifier “Messi successor” attached to Lee Kang-in was “the right person to take Messi’s place” made him feel less unfamiliar.