Local media in Valencia criticized Valencia CF for releasing Lee Kang-in.
The Spanish newspaper Deportivo Valenciano published an article titled “Valencia’s historic mistake,” which said, “Over time, it took away the reasoning of everyone who didn’t believe in Lee and those involved in his release.”
“The most serious problem is that with Lee’s release, Valencia granted him free agency without considering an option or at least a percentage of the transfer fee in the next sale. Valencia have committed a historic faux pas.”
Lee Kang-in first showed his talent for soccer on a program called “Fly and Shoot,” which aired on KBS. Lee was a member of the third season of the program in 2007, and from then on, he showed his potential.
He then joined the Valencia youth team, where he scored two goals and provided four assists to lead the team to a runner-up finish at the 2019 U-20 World Cup in Poland. The ace was so recognized that he was awarded the Golden Ball (tournament MVP).
It hasn’t always been on solid footing. He wasn’t given much of a chance at Valencia, where he came up through the youth ranks. Lee came up through the youth ranks in 2011, and Valencia recognized his potential early on and pampered him with a €80 million buyout clause.
However, he was not consistently given the opportunity. He was promoted to the first team in 2018-19, but was not guaranteed playing time. Over the course of three seasons, Lee made 61 appearances, mostly as a substitute, and his role diminished.
He was unable to find consistent playing time at Valencia and eventually left the club, terminating his contract. In his first season with Mallorca, he struggled to establish himself as a regular starter. This season, however, he proved his worth by emerging as an undisputed ace.
Ready to fly high Lee has already proven himself on the big stages of Mallorca and the World Cup, and he’s already attracted interest from big clubs. He was strongly linked to Atletico Madrid last winter. Although the deal fell through, it was highly anticipated as Atletico prepared to make another move this summer. However, there was a problem with the transfer fee.
It didn’t take long for PSG to show interest. “After news broke that Atletico Madrid were no longer making an offer for Lee, PSG stepped in,” wrote Matteo Moretto of Spain’s Relevo. The French club has been chasing the player for several months and is accelerating the transfer.”
It’s only a matter of time. PSG have spent a lot of time on their managerial search this summer and have yet to finalize any signings. However, as Luis Enrique’s appointment draws closer, we can expect to see a number of official announcements from the club.
Lee is one of them. On April 4, Juanmi Sanchez of Spain’s Marca reported, “Lee Kang-in will play for PSG. Real Mallorca and PSG have reached a complete agreement on the transfer of Lee Kang-in, who will receive a transfer fee of 22 million euros (about 31 billion won) 메이저사이트.”
“Twenty percent of that will go to Lee’s coffers. This is because he secured a portion of his future transfer fee in exchange for waiving his signing bonus when he joined as a free agent from Valencia. Mallorca will get more than €17 million.”
If the reports are to be believed, Lee will pocket around €4.4 million. Usually, when a team’s top prospect moves to another team, they insert a sell-on clause. It’s an arrangement with the transferring club that allows them to receive a 10-20% transfer fee.
However, Valencia demanded a mutual release clause from Lee. They didn”t sell him to Mallorca, they released him as a free agent. In the summer of 2021, Valencia suffered a financial crisis and were forced to sell key players. One of them was Lee Kang-in. At the time, Lee wanted a transfer because he wanted playing time.
Valencia needed a non-EU quota spot for Marcus André and wanted to free up a spot by mutually terminating Lee’s contract. On the other hand, Lee had to be given a unilateral termination notice rather than a mutual termination in order to receive his remaining salary.
In the end, Valencia terminated Lee’s contract in order to register new signing Andre. As a free agent, Lee headed to Mallorca without a transfer fee, leaving Valencia without a single penny for their top prospect and without any sell-on clause. Mallorca signed Lee for no transfer fee. At the time, Lee’s agent reportedly inserted a clause that would have allowed him to receive a portion of the transfer fee in a future move. In total, PSG will receive €4.4 million for the player.