Football clubs love to talk about records, and nothing sparks a debate faster than the suggestion that a young player could break one. This week, a report from Ibrox News has claimed that Rangers could sell winger Minsu Kim for more than £20 million, a figure that would smash the club’s existing record. It is a striking claim for a 20-year-old who arrived only a few months ago and has yet to score or assist in a Rangers shirt. But it raises two worthwhile questions. First, is Derek McInnes using Kim in the right way? And second, what should Rangers actually do if a club arrives with a big offer? The answers are more interesting than the headline suggests.
The context matters, because Kim is one of several signings who have reshaped the wide areas at Ibrox this summer. McInnes inherited a squad that was short on fresh legs, and the club moved quickly to fix that. Badredine Bouanani arrived as a key signing, Daisuke Yokota cost around £2.8 million, and several established wide players, including Óscar Cortés, Danilo and Nedim Bajrami, left on loan to Huracán, Botafogo and Al-Taawoun. That turnover created a lot of opportunity, and Kim has been one of the main beneficiaries. He cost £8.5 million, which makes him one of the more expensive additions, and he has quickly become a regular in the starting eleven.
His route to Glasgow was an unusual one. Kim is a South Korean who came through at Girona and spent last season on loan at FC Andorra in the Spanish second tier, where he scored six goals. Rangers triggered his release clause, handed him a four-year contract and made him the first South Korean player in the club’s history. He was born in Gwangju, and he made his senior international debut against Ecuador, going on to win three caps for his country. For a player of his age, that is a significant amount of experience, and it helps to explain why he looks relatively comfortable in a league that is known for its physical demands and its emotional intensity.
The claim that he could be sold for more than £20 million comes from Ibrox News, which spoke to South Korean football specialist Joel Kim, the man behind the KNTFootball accounts. His view is that the winger’s value will easily double what Rangers paid, which is a reasonable expectation for a young player who develops well. He also admitted that he had expected more goals and assists by now, which is an honest and important qualification. At the same time, he believes that Kim’s pace and physicality are already causing problems for defenders in the Scottish Premiership. The report stresses that there is still a long way to go in the player’s development, and that caveat should be kept in mind throughout the discussion.
To appreciate how large the figure would be, it helps to look at the club’s recent history of sales. Calvin Bassey left for Ajax in 2022 for more than £19 million, which stands as the benchmark. Nathan Patterson’s move to Everton for £16 million sits second. A fee of more than £20 million for Kim would therefore set a new record for the club, and it would be a remarkable return on an investment of £8.5 million. That is exactly the sort of profit that the club’s recruitment model is designed to produce, and it is why the speculation has taken hold so quickly. It is worth remembering, though, that both Bassey and Patterson had considerably more first-team experience at the time of their sales than Kim has now.
The raw numbers so far are modest. Across 10 appearances for Girona and Rangers this season, Kim has played 704 minutes without scoring or assisting, and he has picked up three yellow cards. Seven of those appearances came in the Premiership, covering 486 minutes. One came in the League Cup, covering 74 minutes, and two came in the Spanish second tier before his move. On the surface, that is not the record of a player about to command a club-record fee. But football statistics are rarely as simple as they look, and the more detailed figures paint a more encouraging picture of what he has been doing on the pitch.
According to FotMob, Kim has taken 19 shots this season, with eight on target, and the expected goals value of those efforts is 1.88. He has created nine chances, completed 99 passes at an accuracy of 83.9 per cent, completed 13 dribbles and made 19 recoveries, and his average match rating is 7.20. Those are respectable numbers for a young winger in a new league. The rating in particular suggests that his overall contribution has been consistently good, even without goals and assists. The recoveries are also worth noting, because they show a player who works hard without the ball and who presses with energy, a quality that McInnes clearly values in his wide players.
The gap between the expected goals and the actual goals is the most interesting figure. A total of 1.88 expected goals from 19 shots means that, on average, each of those efforts had roughly a one-in-ten chance of going in. Eight of them hit the target, and none produced a goal. That is partly bad luck, because over a larger sample the numbers tend to even out, and a player who is consistently taking shots of that quality will usually score some of them. It is also partly a question of composure and decision-making, as the original analysis points out. Eight shots on target without a goal suggests that the finishing touch is not yet as sharp as it needs to be, and that the final-third composure still wobbles at crucial moments.
Pace is the clear headline strength. Kim stretches defences with his speed, and his strong frame allows him to shrug off challenges that would knock lighter players off the ball. That combination is invaluable in the Scottish game, where defenders are often aggressive and the pitch can feel tight. He also presses hard, as the recoveries show, and he is versatile enough to play on the left wing, the right wing or in a central attacking role behind the striker. That flexibility gives McInnes options, and it makes him more useful than a winger who can only operate in one position. A player who can do several jobs well tends to be more valuable, both to his own team and to potential buyers.
Competition for places is the other factor to consider. Djeidi Gassama offers pace on the left flank, and he attracted interest from Monza before the season began, which shows that he is regarded as a valuable asset in his own right. Findlay Curtis has earned caps for Scotland and can cover both sides, while Bouanani starts on the right and Ross McCausland offers cover. That is a deep and talented group, and it means that no one can take their place for granted. For Kim, the competition is both a challenge and a protection. It pushes him to improve, but it also means that he does not have to carry the whole burden of the attack, and that McInnes can manage his minutes sensibly.
So is McInnes using him in the right way? On balance, the answer is yes. The manager deploys Kim as an inverted left winger, which means that he starts wide on the left but drifts infield when he receives the ball, running at full-backs and pinning them deep. That has a double effect. It drags centre-backs out of position, creating gaps in the middle of the defence, and it opens up space for teammates such as Bouanani, Yokota and the midfield runners to exploit. A winger who creates nine chances in seven league games is doing precisely what the role demands, whether or not he has an assist to show for it. The numbers support the manager’s approach, and there is no obvious reason to change it.
There is a further point about how Kim’s contribution should be judged. Wingers in an inverted role are often asked to do unglamorous work, such as occupying defenders, making diagonal runs and creating room for others. That work does not always show up in the statistics, but it can be decisive in the way a match unfolds. A team that has a winger capable of pinning two defenders can create overloads elsewhere on the pitch, and that makes the whole attack more dangerous. Kim’s role at Rangers fits that description, and the fact that the team has been winning matches suggests that the system is working. It would be a mistake to judge him purely on goals and assists, particularly at such an early stage in his time at the club.
That said, the finishing needs attention, and McInnes will know it. He scored six goals in Spain’s second tier last season, so finishing is not a skill he has never shown, but 19 shots without a goal is a habit worth breaking early. The solution is partly technical and partly mental. A young player who is not scoring can start to rush his shots or force the issue, which makes the problem worse. The best response is usually to work on shot selection, choosing better moments and better angles, and to build confidence through repetition in training. If Kim can improve the quality of his chances rather than simply increasing their number, the goals are likely to follow.
Rotation could also play a useful role. Gassama and Curtis give McInnes cover on the left, which means that Kim can start when pace is likely to punish tired full-backs and rest when matches turn tight and cautious. That kind of management matters for a 20-year-old who has already logged 704 minutes this season and who also has international duty with South Korea to think about. Young players are vulnerable to fatigue, and the combination of club and country commitments can take a toll over a long season. A manager who is careful with workloads is more likely to keep his players fit and sharp when the important matches arrive, and McInnes has the depth to do exactly that.
The question of a sale is a separate matter, and it is where the headline becomes more speculative. Kim’s four-year contract gives Rangers control over the situation. No club can force a sale on the cheap, and the board can decide when, or whether, to accept an offer. That is a comfortable position to be in, because it allows the club to wait until a bid reflects the player’s true value. It also removes the risk of losing him for nothing at the end of a contract, a danger that many clubs face with their most promising young players. In practical terms, it means that any decision about selling can be made calmly, on the basis of what is best for the team.
Money, of course, talks. Doubling an outlay of £8.5 million requires end product, because buyers pay for goals and assists, not potential alone. A winger with a handful of goals and a few assists by the end of the season would look far more attractive to a prospective purchaser than one with none, however many chances he creates. That is why the original analysis suggests giving Kim another dozen games and a couple of goals before taking the £20 million valuation too seriously. It is a sensible benchmark. If he reaches that point with a few goals to his name, the figure will start to look realistic. If he does not, the club can simply keep him and wait for his development to catch up with his reputation.
There is also a broader strategic question about whether Rangers should want to sell at all. The recruitment model, which focuses on buying young players with high potential, improving them and selling them at a profit, is a sensible response to the financial realities of the modern game. But a club that wants to win the league cannot treat every talented young player as a commodity to be flipped at the first opportunity. If Kim develops into a regular source of goals and assists, he will be an important part of a title-chasing team, and selling him would leave a hole that is difficult to fill. The tension between development and profit is at the heart of the model, and it is one that McInnes and the board will have to manage carefully.
The performance in the 2-2 draw at Dundee shows both sides of the picture. Kim had a chance early in the match that was blocked with the goal gaping, and he was involved in the move that led to the handball appeal against Dundee’s Ryan Astley, but he did not score and he did not dominate the game. It was a typical evening for a young winger with potential, with moments of promise and moments of frustration in roughly equal measure. It is the kind of display that suggests the talent is there but the finishing touch is still developing. That is no reason for alarm, and it is certainly not a reason to question the manager’s use of him
What should happen next is fairly clear. McInnes should keep playing Kim in the role he has been given, because it suits his strengths and it helps the team. He should continue to manage his minutes sensibly, using Gassama and Curtis to share the load and protect him from burnout. The coaching staff should work with him on the details of finishing and shot selection, so that the chances he creates and the chances he takes begin to match. And the club should resist the temptation to focus on the transfer value, because the best way to maximise it is to let him develop naturally. A player who is given time and support is much more likely to reach his potential than one who is treated as an asset on a spreadsheet.
In the end, the claim that Rangers could sell Kim for more than £20 million says more about the optimism surrounding his future than about his current performances. It reflects a belief that his pace, his physical strength and his versatility are the foundations of a significant career, and that belief is not unreasonable. But it also assumes that he will develop in the right way, that the goals and assists will arrive, and that the market will pay a premium for that development. Each of those assumptions carries a degree of risk, which is why the sensible response is patience. Give him another dozen games, let him score a couple of goals, and the valuation may start to look realistic. Until then, the more interesting story is on the pitch, where a talented 20-year-old is learning how to turn promise into production
