Rangers transfer news: Rangers are back at the table for Kim Min-su, with fresh discussions expected today as Derek McInnes tries to push through a deal before the August transfer deadline.
Rangers have reportedly put forward an £8 million (€9.5m) offer for the 20-year-old, only for Girona to reject the opening proposal. Girona have a €10m release clause in place, leaving relatively little room for Rangers to play with if they decide Kim is the man they want.
Rangers transfer news: Why Rangers want Kim Min-su
Kim arrives with a useful bit of senior mileage behind him. Last season, he spent the campaign on loan at FC Andorra in the Spanish Segunda División, making 40 appearances, scoring six goals and supplying three assists.
That matters. He isn’t coming straight from youth football. The left-winger came through Girona’s academy and has yet to win a senior South Korea cap. His game is built around carrying the ball, attacking space and getting defenders turning. There’s width when Rangers need it, but he can also drift inside onto his stronger foot.
That should appeal to McInnes, who has switched between 3-5-2, 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1.
The big question at Ibrox
Here’s where the £8m price tag gets interesting. Spanish second-tier football and the Scottish Premiership aren’t the same proposition. Not close.
McInnes wants his wide players involved when Rangers have the ball, obviously, but he also expects them to work when they don’t. Pressing, tracking runners, winning second balls. The glamour disappears quickly when you’re defending a lead.
Kim’s defensive numbers are less convincing. He doesn’t win many aerial duels and can be vulnerable in physical one-v-one situations. There’s another little warning sign, too: he picked up yellow cards in each of his first two appearances back at Girona this August.
That doesn’t make him a bad signing. It shows the gamble involved right now at Ibrox. Used as an aggressive attacking outlet, Kim could give Rangers something they’ve lacked: genuine acceleration from wide areas and a player willing to run directly at a full-back.
Read: Report: £3m Rangers signing ruled out by Club Brugge
The question is whether he can handle the other side of the job when McInnes demands the hard yards. At £8m, Rangers aren’t buying a project they can quietly develop for three years. They’d be buying an immediate first-team option, and that changes the calculation.
