To those who follow Korean Futbol to any extent, Kangin Lee is a household name and has been for years now. He was just 7 when he blew us all away with his football talent on a kid soccer reality show on KBS, 날아라 슛돌이 (Fly Shoot Dori). At that point I thought, “you know, he might just amount to something.” But on the flip side, there are so many youth phenoms that never pan out, so I was cautiously optimistic. His next big move was a trial with La Liga side Valencia; he passed their trial, joining their youth team at the age of 11. From there, he climbed the ranks, and eventually became the youngest non-EU player ever to play for the first team at the tender age of 17.
We all thought, “okay, Kangin’s going to skyrocket to superstardom.” I mean, at the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup in Poland he brilliantly led a South Korea squad all the way to the final and was able to pick up the Golden Ball Award for tournament MVP at just 18! He had just joined the company of past winners, and famous greats of the game, like Pogba, Aguero, Messi, and Maradona. Unfortunately, reality settled in, and settled in hard for the Kid Wonder. Critics started to nitpick his game, and noticed weaknesses instead of focusing on his strengths. These criticisms were not without merit either. He had issues with physicality, movement without the ball, holding the ball, defensive positioning/awareness, amongst other things. The team he was on, Valencia, was also slowly falling apart internally; frequent coaching changes, beef between players, and poor ownership were some of the problems. Kangin needed to get out, get a fresh start, and was fortunate to stay in La Liga and get scooped up by Mallorca.
So, now he blows up into the superstar we all know he can be right? No, not quite. He struggles during his first year at Mallorca. He realizes he doesn’t have the quality of teammates he had at Valencia, and the amount of possession Mallorca has is far less than he had at Valencia as well, not allowing him to showcase his offensive repertoire like he was able to at Valencia. He tries to make it work with his now good friend Takefusa Kubo, but their play styles didn’t mix well, with both struggling defensively. Of course, Kangin flashes from time to time. A goal against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, an assist against his former club Valencia, but highlights were few and far between as Mallorca struggled to stay above relegation. They fired then Manager Luis Garcia, brought in a big man striker in Verdat Muriqi, and got a new Manager in Javier Aguirre to try and save the season. Opting for a more defensive tactic, Aguirre seldomly uses Kangin and while the style of futbol might not have been pretty, Mallorca were able to miraculously stay in La Liga and admittedly without much help from our boy Kangin.
This moment in time right here was most likely the lowest of low points for Kangin Lee. Even as a supporter of his, I thought he might have peaked and this was where things would end. Paulo Bento wasn’t even calling him up to the Korean National Team, so things weren’t looking great on that side of things either. He’ll play in a smaller European League or somewhere in La Liga Segunda and eventually end up back in Korea. That’s really the trajectory I thought he was on.
Then the 2022/2023 pre-season rolled around. From photos, it was evident that Kangin was bulking up and adding a bit of muscle to his frame. I was concerned; was he going to be even slower than before? But then, Manager Javier Aguirre came out and said something nobody was expecting him to say. I am paraphrasing here, but he basically said that Kangin is no longer a role player and that he’s a key piece to the team, the team’s most talented player. Then the 2022/2023 season starts, and as a fan of his since 7, I’m shocked at what I am seeing. I am asking myself, who in the heck this version of Kangin Lee that I am watching on my TV screen?
It’s not just the stats, because you can’t measure a player on a team like Mallorca with stats. They still only possess the ball maybe 20-30% of the time and are lucky to score a goal per game with their play style. So, I don’t think it’s fair to judge Kangin on his stats alone, as improved as they are from a season ago. The ones who will be able to tell the difference between 2021/2022 Kangin and 2022/2023 Kangin are the ones who watched his games, like me.
There has been so much talk about Kangin’s rumored summer transfer to the English Premier League. Last year, or even during his time at Valencia, I would have told you there is no way in hell he can make it in the EPL. Fast forward to today, and now, I truly believe he can. I’m going to list things that Kangin Lee has changed in his game to make this a possibility now. You can see examples of these skill improvements in the compilation video below :
Defensive Awareness/Positioning: This is the one thing I believe Javier Aguirre’s system has benefited Kangin the most. Before, Kangin would look lost, ball watch, and not be in the right spots to help defensively. This was most evident when the ball wasn’t with Kangin’s man. This part of his game VASTLY improved.
1v1 Defending, Ground Duels: He’s still a bit aggressive defensively, but he’s much smarter now and is becoming a competent defender on the ball. His upgrade in strength has given him confidence to attack ground duels head on and this year has led to him winning the duels more times than not. This was not something Kangin was capable of before.
Physical Strength: I mentioned it before, but his overall strength has definitely improved. This hasn’t just led to confident ground duels, but he’s not falling over at the slightest bit of contact anymore; he’s able to play through contact and keep plays alive. He’s able to shield defenders away better than ever before as well.
Explosiveness: I won’t say speed, even though he does seem faster on longer sprints, but where I see a huge improvement is his explosiveness. Kangin’s just faster and more powerful in those stop-start moments. That’s the big thing that has changed. His ability to plant and go now is much improved, masking his lack of natural god-given speed, something that Hwang Heechan does have. Kangin is never going to be a burner, but he’s also not sticking out like a sore thumb either anymore. A lot of people say you can’t teach speed, that you are born with it. What I think happened to Kangin is a combination of training and Kangin being a late bloomer physically. The difference is super clear though, this year compared to any previous year he has played.
Dribbling: Yes, it’s improved. One of his best traits has indeed improved. How, you ask? The “speed” and the “when” has improved. I feel like at one point in his career, Kangin was dribbling to “ohhh” and “ahh” and to essentially show off his skill. It was pretty, but not always effective in the game. He almost dragged the game on until he found the right time in his mind to do something highlight worthy. Those days are gone. Now we have a super-efficient Kangin who gets the ball moving and uses his exceptional technique when necessary instead of trying to create a highlight. It’s much more organic now and goes with the flow of the game. His aforementioned explosiveness has also made his moves quicker and more crisp, making it even harder to defend. Another huge addition is the right foot. Defenders used to force Kangin to his right by blocking off the left side. You unfortunately cannot use this tactic anymore, as Kangin has counters for every method of defense a defender may try. He can go comfortably to his right now and as many have pointed out his dribbling is now reactive and not proactive. His insane ability to dribble as the defender makes a move is uncanny and dare I say, Messi-like. His body feints are a personal favorite of mine and they continue to be incredibly effective. Special people are born with this unique talent to make defenders miss; you think of Allen Iverson in basketball or Barry Sanders in American Football. Very few are born with this talent, and somehow we got that with Kangin Lee and he is using that talent to the fullest now.
Work Rate/Off the Ball Movement: Most offensively gifted players usually don’t give the same kind of effort on the defensive side or when the ball is not in their possession. This was also an issue with Kangin for the longest time. I believe he really took it upon himself to not want to be labeled as a one-way player who only is good with the ball at his feet. I really think this was probably one of the hardest things for Kangin to fix but somehow, he has managed to pull this off. He’s always moving now, and really puts as much pressure as he can on the opposing team when they have the ball. It’s showing up in his tackle/interception stats, so you know the effort is being put in. It’s really helping him round out into an EPL caliber player.
Attitude: He’s still only 22, but he finally looks at ease now. He’s getting playing time, he’s playing well, he’s enjoying his time on the pitch. For the longest time, it appeared as though Kangin was trying to prove something. “I should be getting more minutes”, “I’ll show them all I should be starting”, “I can’t play defense? Watch this!”. This mindset led to unnecessary yellow cards, and sometimes red cards. It led to arguments with teammates as to who was going to take a free kick or corner. Now, he is finally at ease, and almost has a sense of arrogance (good thing) about him that all superstars have. HIs facial expressions now says, “I know I’m good, I know I’m better than you,” and his confidence in my opinion has never been as high as it is now.
That is why I believe EPL teams are hot on his trail. They see the potential, they see this diamond in the rough, and they see the confidence. On a mediocre Mallorca side that is way overperforming record-wise, if you ask me, Kangin is like a handcuffed superhero. What happens if you put a player of his caliber on a team that dominates possession? What happens if you put a player of his caliber with players of similar or better talent? Some think he’ll fit right in and become the superstar we all think he’s capable of becoming. Some think the EPL is too fast, too strong for him and he’ll fizzle out. Some think the pressure to perform will be too high and he’ll crumble. There’s really only one way to find out.