For Kim Ji-soo, the past year has been a dream.
Kim Ji-soo has joined the English Premier League (EPL). “Kim Ji-soo joins Brentford from Seongnam,” Brentford announced on the club’s social media on June 26 (KST). The contract is for 4+1 years,” the club announced. Kim becomes the 15th South Korean to join the Premier League, and the youngest at 18 years old.
Born in 2004, Kim came up through the Seongnam youth ranks and made his professional debut in the 2022 season. Despite his young age, Kim made 19 appearances in the K League in his debut season, serving as a key center back for Seongnam. His performance last season earned him a spot in the Team K League All-Star Game against Tottenham Hotspur in July.
안전놀이터 He has all the qualities of a center back in modern soccer. Not only does he have basic defensive skills, such as serving and tackling, but he also has the ability to build up with both feet, which comes from his height of 192 cm. He also has the ability to anticipate his opponent’s movements, so he doesn’t rush forward, but instead waits.
He has also shown his skills at the international level. Most recently, he proved himself at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023. Kim Ji-soo was touted by local media as a player to watch before the tournament began, and he lived up to the hype, playing solid defense alongside Choi Seok-hyun throughout the tournament to help Kim Eun-joong reach the quarterfinals.
With his early recognition, Kim Ji-soo also gained attention overseas. Brentford of the EPL was the most active team in his pursuit. Just before the U-20 World Cup, Brentford informed Seongnam of their interest in Kim, and negotiations began after the tournament. Brentford used a global scouting network to monitor players, and Kim was spotted. After the U-20 World Cup, Brentford and Seongnam negotiated and the transfer was finalized.
Looking back on the past year, Kim Ji-soo’s career has been nothing short of a lie. After making his professional debut in the 2022 season, Kim was selected to play in the Team Korea All-Star Game against Tottenham in July for his seasoned and steady defense at the age of 17. In that game, Kim gained a tremendous amount of experience facing opposing strikers Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
In that game, Kim followed and marked Kane for the entire second half. The result was a 6-3 Tottenham victory, but the experience was invaluable for Kim. After the game, Kim spoke highly of Kane. “Kane is not only a one-shot, one-kill scorer, but also a strong link-up player. It was difficult to stop him, and it was surprising. I think these experiences will help me grow even more,” he said.
After her dream match with Tottenham, Kim continued to play regularly for Seongnam. Although Seongnam suffered relegation to the bottom of the league in the 2022 season, it was another experience for Kim. He was then called up to the U-20 World Cup roster at the start of the 2023 season due to an injury that limited him to one game, but he made his mark and played as the starting center back at the tournament, helping lead Kim Eun-jung-ho to the quarterfinals 메이저놀이터순위.
After making his Korean League debut and World Cup appearance, Kane is now joining the EPL, almost a year after his last match against Tottenham last July. Having faced Kane in South Korea just over a year ago, Kim will now be able to face him in England. For now, Kim will train and play with Brentford’s B team. He could face Tottenham as early as Aug. 13 in their EPL opener for the 23-24 season.