Lee Kang-in decorated the Christmas poster as one of the representative players of Ligue 1, but he was not recognized as the best recruitment this season.
France’s “Le10 Sport” said on the 26th (Korea time), “He is the best recruitment of Luis Enrique,” and delivered the best recruitment of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) this season.
Le10 Sport said, “During last summer’s transfer window, PSG hit the market. The club signed 11 new players, and we picked the best freshmen in the 2023-2024 season.”
Dembele was chosen by Le10 Sport as the best freshman this summer by PSG. Le10 Sport said, “We broke up with Christophe Galtier last summer, and PSG chose Luis Enrique to replace him. And Enrique was on fire in the transfer market to achieve his goal. They brought in as many as 11 new players. Of the 11 players including Lee Kang-in and Luca Hernandez, Dembele was chosen as the best summer rookie for PSG. According to the vote, Dembele led Hernandez with 43 percent with 57 percent of the votes,” explaining that Dembele is the best freshman in PSG.
Lee Kang-in has also performed well since joining PSG, but he was not even mentioned in this vote. This evaluation is even more regrettable in contrast to Lee Kang-in’s recent Christmas poster with Mbappe as a representative player for Ligue 1.
France’s Ligue 1 unveiled a Christmas poster on its official social media on Saturday, including players representing the league. Lee Kang-in was also in one spot on the poster. Lee Kang-in appeared enjoying the video game with Lille striker Jonathan David, and PSG’s No. 19 and Lee Kang-in were also clearly revealed, indicating his status. Lee Kang-in also had a poster next to Mbappe with his PSG uniform, and included coach Enrique. A poster decorating the Christmas tree even appeared, indicating that Lee Kang-in is one of the centerpieces of this Christmas poster.
Lee Kang-in’s popularity in Ligue 1 this season is huge. In the last match against Le Havre, PSG also wore a Korean uniform thanks to Lee Kang-in’s effect. PSG announced before the match that “PSG will play against Le Havre on December 3rd, the first team to wear a uniform with Korean names on it.” Along with the announcement, PSG even revealed images of players making Korean uniforms to wear on its SNS. The uniform that will be unveiled will be marked with Mbappe instead of MBAPe, which made Korean fans look forward to it, and Lee Kang-in also walked around the stadium wearing a uniform with Korean letters on it. The reason why PSG is showing off its affection for Korean fans by even wearing Korean uniform is because of Lee Kang-in. French daily Le Figaro said that the PSG will play in the match against Le Havre wearing a uniform marked with Korean letters. This is because Korean fans are paying keen attention to Lee Kang-in, a good player on the field and goose that lays golden eggs. The increasing number of fans has already shown interest in the uniform of Parc des Princes and the club’s SNS. Lee’s uniform is selling at the same level as that of Kylian Mbappe,’ he said.
Lee Kang-in’s effectiveness has already been proven. PSG Talk, which reports PSG, said, “PSG has long served as a hub for outstanding talents in the world, and numerous stars have boasted their names. However, the 2023-2024 season is different. Other famous players are gone, and only Mbappe is left. Many assumed that Mbappe would lead the sale of uniforms, but it was not. According to the news, Mbappe is the biggest seller of uniforms in offline and online stores. Lee Kang-in ranked second in PSG uniform sales in offline and Only-An stores,” adding that Lee Kang-in filled the void of famous players.
French media Foot Mercato also called Lee Kang-in one of the best recruits, saying, “The transfer market, the best players in the league.” Foot Mercato said, “Lee Kang-in has set a curve. He was absent in the Asian Games, which was his first injury and only played as a substitute, but he is gradually revealing his presence and justifying the transfer fee of 22 million euros,” paying attention to Lee Kang-in’s performance right after the transfer.
Ligue 1 also said, “PSG Lee Kang-in is an undercover superstar. Lee Kang-in’s uniforms are selling like hot cakes in PSG. Lee Kang-in’s name stands out more than Kylian Mbappe and Usman Dembele. Korean tourists continue to flock to the Parc des Princes,” highlighting Lee’s popularity. “PSG is benefiting from Lee Kang-in’s presence. Not only is he a useful player for Luis Enrique, but he is also helping PSG become more popular than ever in Asia. The 22-year-old still has a long way to go, but he has everything to do as a new star in Asia and succeed Korean national team star Son Heung-min,” he said.
Lee Kang-in was listed on the “Team of the Season” in the first half of the 2023-2024 season selected by Fuscoord, a media outlet specializing in soccer statistics. Kang-in received a rating of 7.17 and became a left-side striker. French media Le10 Sport also praised Lee, saying, “Lee was not a widely known player, but it was a huge hit. PSG gambled with Lee. So far, he has succeeded in all aspects.”
Meanwhile, Lee Kang-in has been consistently on the starting list like Dembele, but evaluations of the two players have been mixed.
Both Lee Kang-in and Dembele performed similarly after the last match against Lille, but their evaluations were starkly different. French media Le Parisien gave Lee Kang-in the lowest three points in the team’s post-match ratings. Le Parisien strongly criticized, saying, “Lee Kang-in didn’t look good at all, and it was hard to find even if he had one. He even handed Dembele an accurate pass, but it was all too vague.”
On the other hand, Dembele, who failed to score a clear offensive point in the game at the time and couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity Lee Kang-in created, received a six-point rating, the highest in his team. Le Parisien only praised Dembele, saying, “He increased his lead by cracking the opponent’s defense. There were some inefficiency, but overall, he showed a dull team taking care of problems by himself.”
Dembele shook the right side, including three dribbles and two key passes, but overall, it was difficult to say that he showed a clear better performance compared to Lee Kang-in. He never succeeded in crossing, and he was often pushed in ball competitions. Le Parisien’s rating did not show enough performance to show a big gap between Lee Kang-in and Dembele.
Criticism began against Dortmund last time. Indeed, although his performance in the match against UCL Dortmund was regrettable, French media criticized him as if they had been waiting for him. The Paris team, which reported PSG news, also explained about Lee Kang-in, “He was disappointing because he couldn’t find his place,” while Le Parisien also gave him 4.5 points, saying, “It wasn’t interesting when I was putting pressure on him, and he often caught the ball only between the lines. We need to show a better performance at the front line like we did in front of the goal.” Foot Mercato gave Lee Kang-in three points, the lowest rating in the game, and said, “Lee started in the midfielder position. It was an opportunity to shine on offense and show technical dominance with the ball. However, he repeatedly made inaccurate passes and did the exact opposite without affecting his defense. He also criticized him tremendously, saying, ‘He missed an inevitable opportunity at Muani’s cross.’
Reporter Daniel Riolo of the French media “RMC Sports” also mentioned PSG midfielder Lee Kang-in in the “After Foot Sunday” broadcast on the 18th, saying, “Lee Kang-in makes me tired. He’s like a rotation player,” criticizing that Lee Kang-in is not the kind of player to start. Considering that Lee Kang-in has definitely played as a key player this season, Riolo’s evaluation is too harsh.
However, the assessment is too harsh compared to his performance in October. After participating in the Asian Games, Lee Kang-in returned to PSG and played in various positions. In the third round match of the European Champions League group stage against AC Milan, Lee even scored his first point for PSG, despite playing as a substitute, and Lee Kang-in, who started in the 10th round of the league against Strasbourg, also scored an offensive point for the second consecutive game by helping Mbappe score with a wonderful out-front pass. In the match against Montpellier, who has started for five consecutive league games, he scored the winning goal and even scored the first goal for Ligue 1.
PSG also praised Lee Kang-in. “When I look at Lee Kang-in as a player, he has left foot that resembles Messi’s left foot a lot when he was playing for Mallorca. The way he always looks different when playing with his left foot, you can find Messi’s movements and gestures that he made at Barcelona. I look forward to seeing Lee blossoming and improving at PSG,” said Davy Ginola, who also played for PSG.
Enrique also acknowledged Lee’s performance. At a press conference before the match against Messe, Lee said, “Lee is a very important player who can play various positions including left and right wingers, midfielders, and No. 9. He is a player who has the best skills and defense, and sacrifices himself for the sake of the team. It is great to have a young player with such good qualities in the team. Moreover, he is nice, fun, and has everything in one word.”
When asked about Lee’s performance after the match, Enrique said, “I make it easy for Lee to pass such a decisive pass. The level of the players is also high, but what I highly value is his versatility. Lee Kang-in is a player who can play anywhere. Today, he started between the lines, but he wanted to secure space on the right side. We are trying to create more situations, and it is important that we can make changes,” in complimenting Lee Kang-in’s performance.
Lee Kang-in will leave PSG for the time being. He will leave the team from January to February 10 to participate in the Asian Cup. Lee Kang-in returned to PSG after participating in Asian Games and A matches in October and has been on the starting list steadily. In particular, Lee Kang-in is trusted by Enrique, regardless of winger, striker and central midfielder position, so Lee Kang-in’s departure could be painful for PSG. 랭크카지노
Lee Kang-in, who was not recognized as the best recruitment for PSG despite his popularity and performance, is scheduled to leave for the Asian Cup, and attention is being paid to whether he will maintain his position at PSG and continue his performance even after his return.