Jose Mourinho has hit out at Tottenham for failing to sign Kim Min-jae when he was manager at the north London club.
Min-jae has been a star for Napoli since joining them earlier in the season and has helped spur them to the top of the Serie A table.
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He is one of Europe’s best defenders and has been a mainstay in the Napoli back line, replacing Kalidou Koulibaly as he departed for Chelsea in the summer window.
Now, Mourinho, who is at Roma, has been speaking about Napoli and Min-jae as his side from the capital take on the Naples league leaders in a Serie A match.
“I can tell you a story about one of their players. I spoke to him on FaceTime and wanted to buy him at Tottenham, but Tottenham didn’t help me,” said Mourinho.
“The player cost ten million, Tottenham offered five. A deal could be done for seven or eight, but at that time Tottenham couldn’t spend money.
“I spoke to the lad two or three times via FaceTime, he really wanted to come, but he couldn’t come. And now he’s that ‘rubbish’ defender who plays there, Kim.”
Mourinho wanted to sign a defender while at Tottenham but didn’t get his wish and it’s clear now that the South Korean was one of the targets.
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The Roma manager’s jibe was aimed at the Spurs bosses who apparently doubted Kim’s potential despite his football upbringing.
The defender was playing in his native country until 2019 then moved to China before a move to Fenerbahce in Turkey in 2021 as he was attracting interest from Champions League-level clubs.
Napoli got their man in the summer after being impressed by him and there is now interest from Europe’s top teams including Manchester United.
