New Napoli coach Rudi Garcia has made finding a replacement for Kim Min-jae his top priority.
Napoli quickly appointed Garcia after Luciano Spalletti, who led the club to the 2022-2023 Italian Serie A title, left the club over contractual differences. Garcia led neighboring AS Roma to a second-place finish in Serie A, and was well-received at Lille and Olympique Marseille in his native France. He was most recently in charge of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nasr.
According to reports from Italian newspapers Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport, Garcia has asked the club not to sell striker Victor Osimhen and winger Hvitsa Kvarachelia ahead of next season’s preparations. Despite Osimhen being heavily linked with a move away, the club will not sell him unless it is for a very large fee and will reportedly offer him a new contract. If Osimhen does leave, Lille will look to sign Canadian international striker Jonathan David.
The most likely departure is Kim Min-jae, who was named Serie A’s best defender. With Bayern Munich, Manchester United, and Newcastle United in the running for his signature, Kim has a buyout clause that will be difficult to honor.
Garcia’s preferred replacement for Kim is Atalanta center back Giorgio Scalvini. Scalvini is just 20 years old and has already earned four caps for the Italian national team. He’s been playing for Atalanta since he was a youth player and made his professional debut in 2021. He doesn’t need to adapt to the league and has a lot of potential due to his length and build-up play.메이저놀이터
Other center backs widely touted as future stars, such as Reims’ Kevin Dansaud, Stuttgart’s Hiroki Ito, Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Go Itakura, and Feyenoord’s David Hantzko, have all been touted as possible replacements for Kim. If the club fails to sign Scalvini, they will move on to the next candidate.
Garcia will hold his inaugural press conference on Nov. 19 (local time). It will be a chance to discuss the manager’s outlook on the Kim Min-jae transfer, as well as possible replacements.