
After a year of preparation, he’s ready for the world’s biggest stage. Defender Kim Ji-Soo (19, Brentford), the future of Korean soccer, will play for the first team in the new season.
English Premier League side Brentford announced on the club’s website on July 7 (KST) that it has promoted defender Ji-Soo Kim and goalkeeper Ben Winterbottom from the B team to the first team, and that they will play under head coach Thomas Frank from the 2024-25 season.
Soon, we could see the first South Korean center back in the Premier League. Kim Ji-Soo joined Brentford from Seongnam FC last summer. He made his K League debut at the age of 17 in the semi-professional ranks, and Brentford recognized his potential and pursued his signing.
In the meantime, Kim Ji-Soo has come a long way. In 2022, he was named to the K League All-Star team for a friendly match against Tottenham Hotspur in South Korea. After representing his country at various age groups, Kim recently played at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, where he was the main defender and helped South Korea reach the quarterfinals.
Brentford’s recruitment became aggressive. They even organized an hour-long video meeting to convince her. Kim headed to England with big plans, but she didn’t rush the decision. She spent some time in the B team to get used to English soccer.
As Kim steadily gained experience in the B team, she was occasionally called up to the first team in cup competitions. Although he failed to make his first-team debut in his first year in Europe, he continued to improve and was named in the final squad for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar.
Now, he can look forward to making his Premier League 토토 debut. Brentford finished 16th in the 2023-24 season and stayed up. As they prepared for next season, they included Kim in their plans by promoting him to the first team.
Brentford B Head Coach Nick McFarlane said: “Kim is a great example of how we develop our players. “We’ve had a number of players make the leap from the B team to the first team and she’s taken that step,” said McFarlane, who added: “She came from a completely different culture and has worked hard to settle in while learning a new language.
“We hope that Kim Ji-soo will show her capabilities in the first team and strive to be the best she can be.”