After just two years, Lee Kang-in leaves Mallorca and becomes a club legend.
Mallorca’s local newspaper, Diario de Mallorca, reported on Friday (June 5) that Lee Kang-in, who is leaving Mallorca, is leaving a lot of things behind for the club.
“He will sign a contract with PSG in the French capital, Paris,” France Sport said on Thursday, adding, “PSG are more than ever on the right track to sign him. He will leave Mallorca in Spain to join PSG.”
Lee has emerged as a player to watch around the world. His double-digit attacking points with six goals and six assists for Mallorca in the 2022/23 season attracted interest from several big clubs.
Fellow Spanish league side Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, who will be competing in the UEFA Champions League next season, and Real Betis, who will be playing in the Europa League, were all on the radar. In the Premier League, Aston Villa and Brighton have also been linked to Lee.
Atletico seemed to be the most likely destination. With Diego Simeone reportedly wanting him, there was a lot of excitement about the prospect of seeing him play for Atletico.
However, Mallorca were adamant that they would not sell him unless it was a buyout. Atletico, who were not in a financial position to do so, offered an alternative of putting the player on a transfer fee, but the deal eventually fell through.
PSG swooped in and snatched him up. They reached a personal agreement with the player and were willing to pay the €25 million that Mallorca was demanding.
“Lee will become the highest-earning player in the club’s history,” said Diario de Mallorca.
To date, only Samuel Eto’o’s transfer to Barcelona has cost more than €24 million ($33.9 billion). When he joined Mallorca, there was a 50 percent buyout clause for Real Madrid.
Lee joined as a free agent from Valencia, so Mallorca signed him without spending a dime on transfer fees, and the club pocketed 18 million euros ($25.4 billion), less 20 percent of the 22 million euros in transfer revenue, or about 4 million euros ($5.6 billion). This is the highest revenue in the club’s history.
As part of the deal, 안전놀이터 Mallorca has scheduled a friendly match with PSG in January 2024 to mark the completion of the renovation of the Son Moisi stadium. Mallorca players Lee Kang-in and Marco Asensio are expected to play in the match.
In addition, superstars such as Kylian Mbappe and Neymar are expected to visit the island, bringing in another huge amount of gate revenue for Mallorca. That’s a lot of money for Mallorca.
For Mallorca, Lee Kang-in could be another big money maker. Lee signed at the age of 22, so a transfer before the age of 23 could cost Mallorca a solidarity contribution on any future transfers. A solidarity contribution is a percentage of a player’s transfer fee that goes to the academy, school, or club where the player played before the age of 23.
In just two years, Lee has given Mallorca a lot to celebrate with record revenues, a friendly against PSG, and a solidarity contribution. His two-year impact is likely to go down as one of the best in the club’s history, as many Korean tourists visited Mallorca and the club’s revenue from jerseys and gate receipts was the highest ever.