Manchester United to pay £52m upfront for 26-year-old Serie A defender

Napoli's South Korean defender Min-jae Kim controls the ball during the Italian Serie A football match between Napoli and Salernitana on April 30, 2023 at the Diego-Maradona stadium in Naples. - Naples braces for its potential first Scudetto championship win in 33 years. With a 17 point lead at the top of Serie A, southern Italy's biggest club is anticipating its victory in the Scudetto for the first time since 1990. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP) (Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images)

Some media outlets are growing increasingly confident that Napoli centre-back Kim Min-jae will sign for Manchester United this summer.

Take Il Mattino as an example. The Italian publication has been pushing the boat out in terms of Kim to United links in recent days.

The 26-year-old has a release clause that can be activated by foreign clubs this summer, but United would have to pay £52 million to trigger that.

Foreign clubs have learned that Kim’s clause is set to become active from July 1 to 15.

Il Mattino believe the defender wants to move to Old Trafford, with the Reds reportedly willing to activate the buyout clause.

You can’t believe everything you read, but there’s been a lot of whispers about Kim in recent months. Dare I say there’s no smoke without fire?

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