Former Watford sports chief Filippo Giraldi ha recalled how close they came to signing Kim Min-jae.

The South Korea defender is now with Bayern Munich after helping Napoli win the Scudetto last season.

Giraldi recalled to TMW: "The player we were really close to and with whom we had daily contact both with the boy and with the agents was Kim min-jae.

"We were really close to him when he was still playing in Korea: he was reported to me through the scouts and I fell in love, an incredible resilience and a high level personality.

"We actually reached the signing steps, but at that moment Jeonbuk decided not to disregard an agreement it had already made with Beijing Guoan: the boy was respectful and went to China.

"Even when he was there we resumed contact, but at that moment we couldn't carry out the operation there."