Why did Paris Saint-Germain play with the Korean name printed on their shirts last weekend? League 1

Summer transfers that bring the best returns for Paris Saint-Germain? Not a big name like Ousmane Dembele, Randall Kolo Mwani, or Marco Asensio, but… Kang In Lee. The French champions signed Lee from Mallorca for 22 million euros last summer. Lee has yet to leave an indelible impression on the pitch, having made eleven appearances so far and scoring two goals. However, on the sidelines, the South Korean is currently pushing PSG to unprecedented levels.

Lee is considered a ‘hot’ in his home country and provided Paris Saint-Germain with a legion of die-hard South Korean fans at the start of this season. In an official statement, the club expressed its happiness at showing this rapidly growing popularity. “Since Kang In Lee’s arrival, the number of supporters at Parc des Princes has increased by 20 percent, and the number of followers on social media has also increased.” PSG is talking about an additional 22,000 followers on X – the former Twitter – and an additional 35,000 fans on Naver, a South Korean social media. “For example, Paris Saint-Germain is the third most followed club in South Korea.”

Therefore, Paris Saint-Germain wanted to give this popularity an additional boost. During the visit to Le Havre, Kylian Mbappe and his teammates played with printing Korean names on match shirts last Sunday. Lee also had “himself” on the field for 90 minutes. South Korean fans can already buy shirts from the webstore and there is a real chance that sales will be the focus. Since the opening of the Fan Shop in Seoul in 2020, South Korea has become PSG’s second-largest sales market. The best-selling Paris Saint-Germain shirt in the world? Not Mbappe, but – you guessed it – Lee.

Paris Saint-Germain won the match in Le Havre 0-2 after goals from Mbappe and Vitinha. Although this victory did not come without a fight. Just ten minutes later, the Ligue 1 leaders were already down to ten minutes after goalkeeper Donnarumma received a red card for a real kung-fu kick. A logical exclusion, but his teammates still gave PSG a seventh consecutive league win. After fourteen days of matches, the Parisians have a four-point lead over number one chasers Nice.