PSG colleagues who showed off their friendship with ‘Lee Kang-in and two-shot certification’
‘Golden Boy’ Lee Kang-in (22), who transferred to Saint-Germain in Paris, France, is adjusting to the storm. It seems that PSG colleagues are helping him adapt to the extent of showing off his friendship with Lee Kang-in by stepping out first.
On the 13th (Korean time), PSG released photos and videos of team training through official SNS. For Lee Kang-in, this is the second team training after transferring. Like the first day, Lee Kang-in’s expression was bright. He also focused on training. Under the direction of PSG coach Luis Enrique, Lee Kang-in moved actively and focused on passing and defense. It was also noticeable that Lee Kang-in often uses both feet, not only his left foot, but also his right foot.
Also, Lee Kang-in got along well with his new colleagues. He first had a close relationship with Carlos Soler of the Spanish national team. From the indoor training that was released the day before to the passing game, we were together. Lee Kang-in worked with Soler during his former team, Valencia. Lee Kang-in joined Valencia Youth in 2011 and played an active role until 2021, and Soler wore Valencia’s ‘Bat’ uniform until 2022 and transferred to PSG last year. PSG is Soler’s first transfer team.
On this day, a ‘three-shot’ was uploaded on the PSG club’s SNS, showing Lee Kang-in, Soler, and Manuel Ugarte, who moved to PSG with Lee Kang-in this summer. Soler then posted this on his social media. He also tagged Lee Kang-in and Ugarte. Lee Kang-in, who noticed this, also replied with ‘♥’. This is the part where you can see how close colleagues Lee Kang-in and Soler are.
PSG fullback Juan Bernat also confirmed the two-shot taken with Lee Kang-in on his social media. PSG colleagues are helping Kang-in Lee adapt first. Bernat was also caught talking to Lee Kang-in several times. Spanish national Bernat also played for Valencia from 2011 to 2014. It overlaps with the time when Lee Kang-in was there. Bernat has been playing for PSG since 2018 after going through Bayern Munich (Germany).
Soler and Bernat are Spanish players. There is no choice but to be friendly with Lee Kang-in, who has been living in the Spanish league for a long time, both linguistically and culturally. Besides, since they had a relationship in Valencia, they look even more friendly.
And that’s not all. There were many advantages in the training time with coach Enrique, the ‘master general’ of Spain. Perhaps because of their commonality of speaking Spanish, Lee Kang-in listened to coach Enrique’s instructions right next to him and put them into practice. Listening and understanding what the manager wants is a great strength in adapting to a new team. Previously, coach Enrique emphasized aggressive football in his first interview and predicted, “I trust young players. I want players to be dedicated and have big goals. I will give such people a chance.” These conditions are perfect for Lee Kang-in. The green light was also turned on for adapting to a new team and competing for a starting position.
In fact, various media predicted that Lee Kang-in would be classified as PSG’s main power and go out to the best 11. Clutch Point, a sports specialist, predicted that Lee Kang-in would fill the void left by superstar Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), who left PSG this summer. French media outlets such as Footmercart and French Football Weekly also included Lee Kang-in in the PSG starting list. He predicted that he would support team world class strikers Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
PSG, which has entered the pre-season, will play a friendly match against Le Havre (France) on the 22nd. On the 25th, Cristiano Ronaldo will meet Al Nasr (Saudi Arabia). There is also an Asian tour schedule going back and forth between Korea and Japan. PSG will play Cerezo Osaka (Japan) on the 28th and Inter Milan (Italy), who won the European Champions League runner-up last season, in Tokyo, Japan on August 2nd. On August 3rd, Busan will play a friendly match against Jeonbuk Hyundai in the ‘Coupang Play 3rd Game’. Lee Kang-in is also planning to make his PSG debut soon.
Lee Kang-in is the first Korean player to wear a PSG uniform. He served as the ace of his former team Mallorca (Spain) last season and played 36 league games, scoring 6 goals and assisting 6 times. He has the team’s second most goals and most assists. Thanks to this, love calls from European clubs poured in from the transfer market last winter. He has been linked with Spain’s Atlético Madrid and a number of English Premier League clubs. However, PSG became the final winner of the recruitment match. Lee Kang-in was embraced for a transfer fee of 22 million euros (approximately 31 billion won). That’s not a small amount. In addition, he signed a long-term contract for 5 years and gave great trust to Lee Kang-in.
