Kang-in Lee: The Next South Korean Superstar?
Kang-in Lee is a South Korean professional footballer who plays for LaLiga team Valencia CF as an attacking midfielder. He spent a couple of years in Incheon United’s youth setup during his youth career. When he was 10 years old, he joined the youth academy of Valencia. He played in the youth teams until December 2017. In that month, Lee made his debut for the reserve team of Valencia. Subsequently, he made 11 appearances in the 2017-18 season. Overall, he played 26 times for the reserve side of Valencia scoring 4 times and assisting twice.
Lee’s first team debut for Los Che (nickname of Valencia) came against CD Ebro in a Copa del Rey which Valencia won 2-1 on 30th Oct 2018. By doing so, Lee became the youngest Korean debutant in Europe professionally. His LaLiga debut came a few months later (January 2019) when he replaced Russian Denis Cheryshev in a match against Real Valladolid. Later that month, Lee was officially promoted to the first team. Throughout the 2018-19 season, he made 11 appearances for Los Che, most of which came in the Copa del Rey which Valencia eventually won defeating Barcelona in the final though he didn’t play in the final.
Kang-in Lee shot to fame after his performances in the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup held in Poland. He won the Golden Ball award for the best player in the tournament having scored 2 goals and provided 4 assists for South Korea U20 in 7 matches. Having played 621 minutes, he was involved in a goal every 103.5 minutes. In addition to the Golden Ball received at the U20 World Cup, he won the Asian Young Footballer of the Year, Korean Young Footballer of the Year in 2019. He also finished in the top 10 for the 2019 Kopa Trophy (Kopa Trophy is an individual award presented to the best young player aged 21 or under, first introduced in 2018 and won by Kylian Mbappe that year).
Lee returned to Valencia after his U20 World Cup success for the 2019-20 season. He didn’t see much action on the pitch having played only 694 minutes in 24 matches across all competitions. He scored twice and provided no assists in the limited playing time he received. Despite this, he created a few records including being the youngest Korean footballer to debut in the UEFA Champions League and becoming the youngest ever foreign goalscorer for Los Che.
Lee is a left footed player who plays as an attacking midfielder though he can also play on the wings. He is a roamer who is found around zones 10, 11 and 12. He is also capable of crossing the ball as well as cutting inside and dribbling past opposition defenders. In addition to this, he is also capable of drifting wide to maintain width after receiving the ball. In the limited playing time, he had a healthy 74% dribble success rate and a very good 84% pass accuracy.
Kang-in Lee is an exciting youngster who has shined for Valencia and the South Korean national team at youth levels. It is only a matter of time till he establishes himself for the South Korean senior national team (He has won 3 caps to date). The departures of Rodrigo and Ferran Torres should see Lee’s game time increase in the 2020-21 season.
