Top 15 ranked 

©IMAGO

Atlético Madrid are set to complete their second major signing of the summer transfer window, with Paris Saint-Germain attacking midfielder Kang-in Lee reportedly on the cusp of a move to the LaLiga giants. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Spanish side have agreed on a deal to sign the South Korean international, which is now on the cusp of being completed following the Asian nation’s elimination from the World Cup. The report states that the transfer fee will be “worth around” €40 million, making Lee the club’s joint-eighth most expensive signing ever, level with Radamel Falcao’s move from Porto in 2011.

Rumour
	K. Lee
	Attacking Midfield
PSG   90 % Atlético Ligue 1 LaLiga

Lee made the move to the French capital from Mallorca in 2023 for a fee of €22m, and since then the winger has bagged 16 goals and 16 assists in 124 games for the French giants, winning three Ligue 1 titles, two French Cups and, impressively, two Champions League winners’ medals. However, while Lee’s departure will hardly register as a blip on the radar of most PSG fans, his move to Atlético is a considerable moment for Asian football. Not only is Lee the most valuable South Korean player in the world, but this deal will also make him one of the all-time most expensive Asian players in the history of the sport.

Indeed, as we can see in the table above, Lee’s €40m move to the Spanish capital makes the winger the second most expensive Asian player of all time, putting the departing PSG star level with Abdukodir Khusanov, who swapped Lens for Manchester City in 2025 for an identical fee. The only Asian player to demand a higher transfer fee is Lee’s compatriot Min-jae Kim, who moved from Napoli to Bayern Munich in 2023 for €50m. Third on the list is Shoya Nakajima, who moved to Qatari club Al-Duhail in 2018 for €35m, followed by Heung-Min Son’s €30m move to Tottenham back in 2015. Remarkably, Lee’s move to PSG also makes it into the top 15, ranking 11th in the all-time list.

Only two other players feature on the list twice: fellow South Korean international Son, following his €22m move to Los Angeles in 2025, and Hidetoshi Nakata, who moved to Parma in 2001 for €28.4m and Roma in 1999 for €21.7m. Rounding out the top 10 is Moteb Al-Harbi, who moves from Al-Shabab to Al Hilal for €28.9m in 2024 and therefore takes sixth place, followed by Hiroki Ito, who made the move to Bayern in 2024 for €23.5m. Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s move from AZ Alkmaar to Brighton in 2018 for €22.5m then takes ninth spot on the list, followed by Son’s aforementioned move to MLS.