Starting anew

Kang-in Lee’s transfer to Atletico Madrid this week affords the South Korean international an exciting new challenge after a three-year stint in Paris produced silverware in abundance, but also a fair degree of frustration.

A regular starter in the league for PSG, the 25-year-old would often find himself benched for big Champions League clashes, a situation that only seemed to be exacerbating.

From the Last 16 stage of the competition to the final last season, Lee gained just 50 minutes of game-time as Les Parisiens conquered Europe for the second year running.

Conversely, in Ligue 1 he was a regular presence, making 18 starts throughout 2025/26.

Clearly, for a player of his standing – a Kopa nominee no less, in 2019 – more action on the pitch was desired and deserved, which explains why his time in the French capital has now drawn to a close.   

Lee Kang-Ins numbers at PSG

Games played: 124 Minutes: 6,384

Goal involvements: 32

Shots: 2.07 per 90

Duels won: 9.86 per 90

Key passes: 0.74 per 90

Trophies won:

Ligue 1: 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26

Coupe de France: 2023/24, 2024/25

Trophée des Champions: 2023, 2024, 2025

UEFA Champions League: 2024/25, 2025/26

UEFA Super Cup: 2025

FIFA Intercontinental Cup: 2025

Inheriting the throne

Despite there being reported interest from several Premier League clubs, a return to Spain was always the likeliest outcome this summer for the attacking midfielder, the player having come through the ranks at Valencia before making 66 appearances for Mallorca.

His displays there prompted PSG into making a successful €22m bid in 2023.

Now, at Atletico Madrid, he returns as the finished article, a talent with multiple medals in his cabinet and 50 international caps to his name, making the landmark half-century at the World Cup.

It is fitting therefore that his more heightened status has been properly acknowledged by his new club who didn’t flinch at handing the player their iconic number seven jersey, left vacant after the recent departure of Antoine Griezmann.

The symbolism of this has not been lost on anyone, least of all Atletico who unveiled a huge billboard in central Seoul this week, showing the number being printed onto a shirt.

Across two different spells with the Rojiblancos the French star scored 212 goals, making him the club’s all-time leading goalscorer. He left for the MLS a legend.

Lee may being coming back to La Liga better established as a global talent. But he also has very large boots to fill.

The prodigy from Incheon

Being viewed – fairly or otherwise – as a direct replacement for a record-breaking hero won’t faze Lee, who has largely fulfilled the high expectation placed upon him since he emerged as a precocious teenager.

An outstanding introductory year at Valencia in 2019 saw the midfielder nominated for the Kopa Trophy, as well as being named that year’s Asian Young Footballer of the Year, and the garlands kept on coming.

That spring he was called up to the South Korea squad, making his international bow in a friendly against Georgia.

Blessed with a bewitching left foot, and the ability to find pockets of space from which to conjure up his creativity, these early achievements must have felt especially gratifying for the youngster after the brave decision he undertook, aged just ten, when he flew halfway across the world to join Valencia’s academy.

To a boy so young, the Spanish city must have felt like a strange and alien environment, far removed from the bustling port of Incheon, where he grew up.

A decade-and-a-half later, and Lee is about to head back to La Liga, older, wiser, and with a different criteria of challenges to overcome.

From what he has shown the world so far, he has to be backed to succeed.