Local French media also expect him to play against Jeonbuk
Recovered from recent thigh injury and joined team training
As French professional soccer club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) embarks on its Asia tour, all eyes are on “Golden Boy” Lee Kang-in’s return to the pitch.
Lee signed a five-year contract with PSG on Sept. 9 and has been playing in the preseason. However, he missed two consecutive games after starting the first preseason match against Le Havre (France) on Sept. 22 before being substituted at the end of the first half due to thigh pain.
He did not play in Japan against Al-Nasr (Saudi Arabia) on Sept. 25 and Cerezo Osaka (Japan) on Sept. 28.
PSG struggled in their two-match tour of Japan, drawing 1-1 with the likes of Lee Kang-in and Neymar out with injuries.
Lee, who is said to have escaped serious injury, recently returned to team training, signaling his imminent return.
In a training video released by PSG on social media on March 30, Lee went through a relatively strenuous workout, starting with a run.
Lee’s return to running is a positive sign that he has recovered from his thigh injury.
However, there are also concerns that it may be premature, as it is known that Lee needs at least a month to recover from the injury.
“I heard that (Lee) needs up to a month to recover,” said coach Hwang Sun-hong, who recently held a training session with the domestic squad at the Paju National Training Center (NFC). “I think we need to be a little careful because you never know when a muscle will have another problem.”
PSG play their final match of the Japan tour against Inter Milan on Jan. 1.
No matter how fast Lee recovers, it’s unlikely he’ll be back in action more than five days earlier than planned.
Local French experts also predicted that Lee will most likely play in a friendly against Jeonbuk Hyundai on March 3 in Busan rather than against Inter Milan.
“Lee Kang-in has been recovering for a few days and his physical condition has improved,” said L’Equipe, adding that “his participation in training is an encouraging sign for a player on the verge of a comeback.”
“It’s likely that Lee Kang-in has a friendly against Jeonbuk in his home country in mind,” added another media outlet, Paris Team.
Jeonbuk’s match at the Busan Asiad Stadium will be the first time Lee will meet fans in Korea since joining PSG.
However, it seems unlikely that Lee will play much time for Jeonbuk.
He is expected to be on the field for a short time as a substitute to prevent a recurrence of his injury.
After the game against Jeonbuk, he will return to France to play the opening match of the 2023-2024 Ligue 1 season against Lorient on the 13th.
Meanwhile, Lee is also on the final roster for the Hangzhou Asian Games, which begin next month.
He is currently in talks with his club to be sent to the Asian Games. As the Asian Games are not organized by FIFA, clubs are not obliged to send players. 한국야동 Winning a gold medal in men’s soccer at the Asian Games will be eligible for military service.