‘Incredible’ defender Newcastle want to sign has just turned down new contract

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Napoli centre-back Kim Min-Jae is wanted by several clubs including Newcastle United and now it looks like he could be on the move this summer.

Despite helping Napoli to the Serie A championship last season, South Korean defender Kim Min-Jae looks set on a move away from the Naples club after turning down a new contract according to 90mins.

Napoli tried to move quickly to get the ‘incredible‘ 26-year-old to sign a new deal in order to prevent his release clause from activating next month.

Kim Min-Jae has a release clause that is active for two weeks in July

For the first two weeks in July any club who agrees to part with €50million (£42.7million) can negotiate terms with Kim Min-Jae thanks to a release clause that is active from 1st to 15th July.

Given that Kim Min-Jae has now refused a new contract at Napoli is seems that he wants to at least assess his options. Manchester United are known to be very interested but Newcastle‘s name has often popped up too with some outlets saying that Newcastle have ‘accelerated’ talks with Kim Min-Jae.

Newcastle could get one over on Manchester United which is always nice

Kim Min-Jae has been described as the ‘best centre-back in the world‘ after a phenomenal first season with Napoli. He only joined the club last summer from Fenerbahce to replace Chelsea-bound Kalidou Koulibaly and in order to stave off competition from Rennes, they put in the aforementioned release clause.

It was a shrewd move at the time but it looks like it may come back to bite them now unless the offers made during that two-week window don’t excite him and he decides to stay put.

If Newcastle can beat Manchester United to this move it would be outstanding business. We’d not only be getting one of the best defenders in the world, but we’d be getting one over on Man United which never fails to put a smile on my face.