Kang-in Lee Swaps Paris for Madrid as Atletico Land the South Korea Star
PSG and Atletico Madrid both confirmed the permanent transfer of the 25-year-old midfielder, reported to be worth around €35 million.
One of the summer window's more intriguing moves is done: Kang-in Lee is an Atletico Madrid player. Both clubs made it official on Saturday, with Paris Saint-Germain confirming the South Korean has left on a permanent transfer after three years in the French capital and Atletico formally welcoming their new signing.
The deal
The fee was not disclosed by either club. Goal reports Atletico paid around €35 million, and that Lee will wear the number 7 shirt at the Metropolitano; some outlets have put the figure closer to €40 million, so treat the exact number as reported rather than confirmed.
Why it matters
For Atletico, this is a classic Diego Simeone-era profile inverted: a creative, left-footed attacking midfielder who can play wide or between the lines, added in his prime years rather than as a reclamation project. Lee arrives with a World Cup on his resume — the Washington Post notes the South Korea international featured at this summer's tournament — and with the experience of three seasons in Paris, where minutes were never guaranteed in a stacked front line.
For PSG, the sale continues a pattern of cashing in on squad players who want a bigger role elsewhere. And for La Liga, it adds one of Asia's most marketable footballers to a title contender — a signing with obvious sporting logic and commercial upside in equal measure.
The move also reunites Lee with the league where he grew up as a player: he came through Valencia's academy and spent a decade in Spain before his 2023 switch to Paris. Madrid, in other words, is less a leap into the unknown than a homecoming with sharper stakes.