Kim Min-jae and Son Heung-min’s ransoms were unrivaled in Asia.
Global soccer media outlet Score90 released the top five most expensive players in each continent on Thursday (KST).
In Asia, the first through fifth spots were filled by Korean and Japanese players. Kim Min-jae is currently the number one player in Asia. The history of Son Heung-min’s long dominance as Asia’s highest paid player changed in mid-June.
A player’s price is determined not only by his skills, but also by an absolute variable: his age. The older a player gets, the less resalable he is, so naturally, the lower his price will be. In June, Son Heung-min saw another slight drop in his price from €60 million to €50 million ($85.7 billion).
A year ago, when Kim was at Fenerbahçe, his price tag was only €14 million ($20 billion). Since joining Napoli, Kim has become one of the best defenders in the world.
Thanks to his incredible play, Napoli won the Italian Serie A title for the first time in 33 years. In a historic moment, Kim was named both the Serie A team of the year and the league’s best defender for his performance in a single season. No wonder his price tag skyrocketed.
The €14 million price tag has now risen to €60 million. He is the only defender in the world to have seen such growth in a single year. He’s also the highest-paid defender in Asia. 메이저사이트
In third place is Kaoru Mitoma, who played well for Brighton in the 2022-23 season. He was valued at 32 million euros (approximately 45.7 billion won). In fourth place was Daichi Kamada, who is currently without a club. Kamada is valued at 27 million euros (approximately 38.5 billion won). The fifth player on the list is also Japanese. Takefusa Kubo, a close friend of Lee Kang-in, is worth €25 million (approximately KRW 35.7 billion).
Even the top two Japanese players combined didn’t come close to Kim Min-jae. The combined price of Mitoma, Kamada, and Kubo was less than the combined price of Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae. Already, Kim Min-jae and Son Heung-min’s salaries are not competitive in Asia. Only in Europe and South America would they be in the top five.