Matthijs de Ligt excited about new Bayern Munich teammate Kim Min-jae

While the main focus of Bayern Munich’s summer transfer window has been centered around Tottenham’s Harry Kane, the Germans have invested quite well in other areas of the pitch.

Bayern Munich has certainly made up for Lucas Hernandez leaving for Paris Saint-Germain by bringing in South Korean international Kim Min-jae from SSC Napoli and also added the defensive reinforcement of Raphael Guerreiro from Borussia Dortmund. Both of these signings were completed after Bayern secured Konrad Laimer from RB Leipzig.

We had seen both Laimer and Guerreiro from the beginning of preseason, as early as their excursions in Tegernsee, Munich. They’ve both looked bright, but Thomas Tuchel will now unfortunately be without Guerreiro for a few more weeks due to a calf injury he sustained. We saw the first of center back Kim Min-jae in Bayern’s 1-0 friendly win over Kawasaki Frontale in Tokyo, Japan as he clocked his first 45 minutes in a Bayern shirt, getting replaced by Dayot Upamecano to start the second half.

Speaking after the friendly win, De Ligt was pleased with what he saw from Kim Min-jae, especially having only just joined up with the rest of the squad having completed his move from Napoli. “Everyone saw the quality he brings with him. He’s very fast, aggressive and strong in duels. Of course it’s always difficult when you haven’t played for 5-6 weeks - it’s the same for every player. But he did well,” De Ligt explained (via @iMiaSanMia).

The South Korean center-back came relatively close to scoring in the first half, but his header off of a corner kick sailed over the crossbar after he’d done well to win the header under tight coverage. He also very nearly provided an assist to Mathys Tel midway through the first half with a low cross in from the left flank, but the Kawasaki keeper made a fantastic save with his outstretched right leg. The move had all started from a lovely bit of pressing from Bayern and Kim Min-jae eventually winning possession in Kawasaki’s own half.

Just as De Ligt alluded to, Bayern has a lot to be excited about with their new signing and it’s hard to argue that the Dutch and South Korean center backs will more than likely wind-up being Tuchel’s preferred pairing in the middle of the backline.

Photo by Stefan Matzke - sampics/Corbis via Getty Images