Napoli want to sign Leeds United defender Robin Koch as Kim Min Jae edges to £43m Bayern Munich transfer
Napoli want to sign Leeds United defender Robin Koch as a replacement for Kim Min Jae, who is set to join Bayern Munich according to Gianluca Di Marzio.
South Korea defender Kim has a €50m (£43m) release clause that is active from July 1 and is set to join the Bundesliga champions, leaving Napoli with a gaping hole in their squad that needs replacing ahead of the 2023/24 season.
And according to Sky Italia journalist Di Marzio, Koch is one name on their shortlist of replacements alongside Ko Itakura of Borussia Moenchengladbach.
“There are two first names on the Napoli list to replace the now outgoing Kim,” he wrote on his website (29 June).
“The first is that of Ko Itakura of Borussia M’gladbach with a past at Manchester City.
“In the list, there is also the name of Robin Koch of Leeds, former defender of Freiburg and already a past idea of Napoli.”
Exit inevitable
There are quite a few players who are almost certain to leave Leeds this summer, but Koch seems to be one of the most inevitable exits of the transfer window.
Koch was arguably the best central defender at the club last season but we suffered and were relegated, and now we have to deal with those consequences.
Clubs like Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen and even Manchester United have been linked with a move for Koch but it seems as though Napoli are now on the scene too and that could be a big game-changer.
They have Champions League football, have just won their domestic league for the first time since the days of Diego Maradona and are ready to push on and try to become is force in Europe.
Koch could be part of that revolution and Leeds will be hoping to get a good amount of cash to let him leave, but with just one year remaining on his contract they need to take what they can get.
In other Leeds news, European giants want £21.5m Leeds star with club open to exit.