▲ Lee Kang-in
South Korean football's ace Lee Kang-in, 25, has left France's Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to find a new home at Spanish powerhouse Atletico Madrid (Atletico).
Atletico announced through social media on the 25th (KST) that it has signed Lee.
The contract is for five years.
The club stated, "We have reached an agreement with PSG for the transfer of South Korean national team player Lee Kang-in. Lee has signed a contract with our club until June 30, 2031."
Lee, who moved from Spain's Mallorca to PSG in July 2023, returns to the Spanish La Liga stage—essentially his "football hometown"—after three years with this transfer.
According to local media outlets such as Marca, the transfer fee Atletico is paying to PSG is 35 million euros, with an additional 5 million euros in add-ons.
This amounts to a massive total of 67.1 billion won.
This is the second-highest transfer fee ever for a South Korean player, following the 50 million euros generated when Kim Min-jae moved from Napoli (Italy) to Bayern Munich (Germany) in 2023.
It is 10 million euros more than the transfer fee (30 million euros) when Son Heung-min (LAFC), ranked third in this category, moved from Hamburg (Germany) to Tottenham Hotspur (England) in 2015.
Atletico, which has won La Liga 11 times, is a powerhouse mentioned alongside FC Barcelona and Real Madrid when naming the league's "top three."
Lee becomes the first South Korean player to play for the first team of these three major Spanish big clubs.
It is expected that it will not take long for Lee to adapt to his new club.
This is because he has lived in Spain for more than 10 years since his early teens, making him very familiar with the local culture.
He joined the youth academy of Valencia (Spain) in 2011 at the age of 10, developed his football career there, and even made his professional first-team debut in 2018.
In 2021, he transferred to Mallorca, played two more seasons in La Liga, and then moved to PSG.
During his five seasons in Spain, Lee made 135 appearances in official matches, scoring 10 goals, including 9 goals in 110 La Liga matches.
Given his consistent display of exceptional passing ability in a major European league and his familiarity with the Spanish stage, Atletico had been eyeing Lee for several years.
With Antoine Griezmann's (Orlando City) move to the United States this summer leaving a major void in the attack, Atletico's pursuit of Lee became even more earnest.
For Lee, who had regrets about not being guaranteed a regular starting spot despite performing well for three years at the star-studded PSG, joining Atletico—which had shown consistent interest—was the best option.
During his three seasons at PSG, Lee recorded 16 goals and 16 assists in 124 official matches, including 12 goals and 14 assists in 80 Ligue 1 matches.
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