Film study: Lee Kang-in

Are Arsenal about to benefit from PSG's transfer gluttony?

Well, it would seem from the socials that Arsenal fans would prefer Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, or even Bradley Barcola, but those two are as of yet un-linked to Arsenal. The former appears to prefer PSG, those feisty underdogs from the French Capital.

With Barcola already in place (and playing really well) on that left wing, that could force a move of one player to the right, currently home to Ousmane Dembélé and Korean national Lee Kang-in, who once tried to assault Son Heung-min over a game of ping-pong. Brownie points already!

Arsenal have been somewhat credibly liked to Lee this month, reportedly “really” liking him. But what’s this guy’s deal, anyway? Let’s break it down.

Lee, 23, came into European football by joining the Valencia academy in 2011, when he was just 10. He moved through the ranks before making his senior debut for Los Ches in October 2018, becoming the youngest Korean to play European football.

Lee started 18 league matches for Valencia over the next two seasons, working primarily as an advanced central midfielder. He ended up with two goals and four assists in about 19 90s before moving on to Mallorca on a free transfer in 2021.

The Spanish vacation destination is where things really took off for Lee, who was a little more right-sided in year one, starting 15 games and appearing in 15 more. He totaled a goal and two assists in a little under 16 90s before moving to the left wing/left midfield position in year two at Mallorca. As a left wing/left midfielder in Mallorca’s 3-4-3, Lee gathered six goals and six assists in about 31 90s.

In a fun bit of trivia, he also posted the fourth-most dribbles completed of any big-five-leagues players that season, finishing behind only Vini, Messi and Doku and succeeding at a brain-wrinkling 67% success rate.

That dribbling success shows heavily on his pre-PSG radar, as you’d expect.

PSG took note and signed Lee for €22 million in summer 2023. He has started 27 league matches to date for the Parisians, racking up 9 goals and 6 assists playing *primarily* as a right winger but also finding his way into the left at times. His chance creation has multiplied significantly in France while his dribbling success rate has stayed good, but his volume has interestingly dropped off. It’s also worth noting that his finishing has been remarkable since the move, though time will tell whether that’s luck.

The film

Anyway, that’s enough words, right? You’re here to watch CLIPS. Let’s do it.