BRENTFORD, ENGLAND - AUGUST 13: Ben Mee of Brentford celebrates after scoring their sides third goal during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Manchester United at Brentford Community Stadium on August 13, 2022 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Brentford beat Bayern Munich to South Korean prodigy Ji-Soo Kim
Bayern Munich’s youth recruitment in recent years has been spot on, bringing in really talented and highly rated players, most of whom make an instant impact in their respective youth teams.
Two of the best examples of this have been Hyun-Ju Lee and Taichi Fukui, as the South Korean and Japanese midfield duo have absolutely blossomed in Bayern’s reserve team, Bayern II. In general, the two players are good examples of the Bundesliga giant’s recent focus on signing young players from Asia, as Woo-yeong Jeong, now at SC Freiburg, would be as well.
However, Bayern isn’t the only club paying attention. As reported by the Evening Standard, Brentford recently signed of South Korean center back Ji-Soo Kim from league Two side Seongnam for an undisclosed fee, having him join the B-Team set up of the Premier League team. Bayern had been heavily linked with the phenomenally talented center back, but failed to move as quickly as the Bees. It’s a rare failure for the Bavarian giants, but one that will hopefully be shook off rather quickly.
Bayern II already has plenty of center backs and the club has plenty more interesting signings in mind for the youth team. The club will take this loss and move on to other fantastically talented players.
Promising young footballer Kim Ji-soo is set to become the 15th South Korean to play in the English Premier League with a move to Brentford Football Club.
Announcing the transfer on its website on Monday, the club said it signed Kim from K League Two side Seongnam for an undisclosed fee on a four-year contract with a club option of an additional year, with the South Korean penning the contract late last week.
The defender, a hot prospect at 192 centimeters and 84 kilograms who turns 19 in December, will join Brentford’s B team to begin preparations for the 2023-24 season on Thursday.
Brentford noted that Kim made 19 appearances in his debut season for Seongnam following his promotion to the first team in January 2022.
The club also cited his 29 international appearances across three different age groups for the South Korean national team, the most recent being the FIFA Under-20 World Cup where Team Korea finished fourth.
Brentford’s director of football, Phil Giles, said Kim “is an excellent prospect who was in demand from many teams in Europe this summer,” adding that the defender “performed very well at the U-20 World Cup recently.”
