Brentford promote Kim Ji-soo to Premier League squad

Nineteen-year-old Korean defender Kim Ji-soo has been promoted to Brentford’s first team ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Kim Ji-soo [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Nineteen-year-old Korean defender Kim Ji-soo has been promoted to Brentford’s first team ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Premier League club Brentford announced Friday that Kim, who has played mostly for the club’s B team since joining last year, and goalkeeper Ben Winterbottom have been bumped up to the A team for the new campaign.

“Ji-soo has impressed for Brentford B since signing from K League Two side Seongnam in June 2023, making 29 appearances and scoring one goal,” the club said in a statement.

Kim, a former Seongnam FC defender, was one of the key members of the U-20 national team that finished fourth at the World Cup in 2023. He became the youngest player ever to appear in a K League 1 game in 2022, and has since been called up to the senior squad for the Asian Cup earlier this year.

"Ji-soo is another example of the project here,” Brentford B head coach Neil MacFarlane was quoted as saying by the club.

“Since I have been here, we have seen a number of players make the jump from the B team to the first team and this is another example of that.

“I applaud Ji-soo, as he has come from a completely different culture, has had to learn a new language and settle in.

“Now with this promotion, I hope that he continues to show his capabilities and works hard to be the best he possibly can be."

Brentford announce Kim Ji-soo's promotion in an Instagram post on Friday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Kim gave his thoughts on the promotion in an interview published by the club on the same day.

"I am excited to be moving in the right direction, and my parents are proud of me for taking this significant step forward in my career,” Kim said.

"I have worked on all aspects of my game this season, including fitting in culturally. When you move from another country, it is not easy to settle in quickly as you miss home, but I have remained determined to be the best I can in a new country and environment.

"My goal has always been to make my Premier League debut as soon as possible, and I will continue to work tirelessly to achieve this objective.”

Kim’s promotion to the A squad makes him the third active Korean player in the Premier League, alongside Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ midfielder Hwang Hee-chan.

He also pushes the number of Koreans active in Europe’s top five leagues to seven, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in, Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae, Mainz’s Lee Jae-sung and Stuttgart’s Jeong Woo-yeong.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]