Lee Kang In
Lee Kang In

South Korean midfielder Lee Kang-in has completed a transfer to Atletico Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain, a move that returns him to Spanish football and sets up a season packed with high-profile matchups against some of the sport's biggest stars, including Kylian Mbappe, Lamine Yamal and his longtime friend and rival Kubo Takefusa.

A return to Spain after three seasons in Paris

Atletico Madrid officially announced the signing Saturday, confirming that Lee, 25, has signed a five-year contract running through June 2031. The transfer fee was reported at up to 40 million euros, or roughly $45.5 million, according to Spanish outlet Marca, ranking as the second-highest transfer fee ever paid for a Korean player, behind only the roughly 50 million euros Bayern Munich paid for defender Kim Min-jae in 2023. South Korean captain Son Heung-min's 2015 move to Tottenham Hotspur, which cost around 30 million euros, ranks third on that list.

Lee arrives at Atletico having inherited the No. 7 jersey previously worn by club legend Antoine Griezmann, who departed for Major League Soccer this summer. Atletico head coach Diego Simeone had been searching for an attacking midfielder to add creativity to the squad following Griezmann's exit, and Lee's technical passing ability and comfort operating in tight spaces made him a natural target for the role.

A career built through Spain's youth academies

Born in Incheon, South Korea, Lee moved to Spain at age 10 to join Valencia's youth academy, spending roughly a decade in the club's system before making his professional debut in 2018 at age 17. He went on to make 62 appearances for Valencia's first team before transferring to RCD Mallorca in 2021, where he spent two productive seasons on the Balearic island, including a standout 2022-23 campaign in which he scored six goals and provided six assists across 39 appearances in all competitions.

Lee joined Paris Saint-Germain in July 2023, spending three seasons in the French capital during which he made 124 appearances, scored 16 goals and provided 16 assists, while collecting 12 trophies, including back-to-back UEFA Champions League titles. Despite that trophy haul, Lee had reportedly grown frustrated with limited playing time behind PSG's deep roster of attacking talent, and had already decided to leave the club this summer even before his transfer to Atletico was finalized.

A difficult World Cup, followed by a fresh start

Lee's move comes on the heels of a disappointing 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign for South Korea, which was eliminated after failing to advance out of the group stage following two losses. Despite the team's early exit, Lee was widely regarded as one of South Korea's standout performers during the tournament, playing all three of the team's group-stage matches. That strong individual form, even amid team disappointment, is seen as having helped solidify his market value ahead of the transfer.

A season full of marquee matchups

With La Liga's 2026-27 schedule now finalized, Lee's move to Atletico sets up several highly anticipated individual matchups over the course of the season. Atletico will face crosstown rival Real Madrid twice in league play, on September 21 and April 5, pitting Lee directly against Mbappe, his former PSG teammate. The two played together in Paris for a season before Mbappe's move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2024, meaning this season will mark their first meetings as opponents since that transfer.

Atletico will also face Barcelona three times across all competitions: twice in league play, on November 9 and February 8, plus a Spanish Super Cup meeting on February 3. Those matches will pit Lee against Spain's World Cup-winning stars Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres, the latter a former youth teammate of Lee's at Valencia, along with Barcelona's deep midfield talent, including Dani Olmo, Gavi and Pedri.

Perhaps the most personally significant matchups on Lee's schedule will come against Real Sociedad, where his close friend and fellow Asian football star Kubo Takefusa plays. Atletico will face Sociedad twice in league play, on September 14 and January 8. Lee and Kubo both developed as academy products within Spanish football and have maintained a close personal bond over the years, even as they've emerged as the standard-bearers for South Korean and Japanese soccer, respectively, adding an extra layer of significance to their head-to-head meetings.

Part of a broader summer rebuild at Atletico

Lee's arrival is Atletico's third notable signing of the summer transfer window, following the additions of Spanish full-back Alex Grimaldo and Danish midfielder Morten Hjulmand. The club has also brought in winger Alex Baena and forward Ademola Lookman in recent transfer windows as part of a broader effort to reshape its attack following Griezmann's departure. While Lee is not expected to single-handedly replace the goal-scoring threat Griezmann provided over his years at the club, he is viewed as a key piece in Atletico's evolving attacking setup alongside Baena and Lookman.

A step up in competitive intensity

Analysts covering the transfer have noted that Lee's move places him in a significantly more competitive domestic environment than he experienced in France. La Liga features a deeper concentration of elite clubs and star talent than Ligue 1, with Atletico regularly squaring off against both Real Madrid and Barcelona, in addition to increasingly competitive sides like Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal, Real Betis and Celta Vigo. That shift is expected to place greater weekly demands on Lee compared to his time at PSG, where the club's dominance of the French league often resulted in less consistently competitive fixtures.

With preseason training underway, Lee's immediate focus will be on securing a starting role in Atletico's midfield before the new season begins. If he succeeds in doing so, this season's schedule offers him the chance to test himself directly against several of the sport's brightest young stars, all while carrying the added weight and visibility of Atletico's iconic No. 7 jersey, a considerably bigger public role than the one he held during his three years in Paris.

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