"I will give it my all": Bayern Munich star on playing through injuries | OneFootball

Bayern Munich center-back Kim Min-jae has been in imperious form this season. After enduring a difficult second half of his debut season, the South Korean defender impressed Vincent Kompany in the summer. The Belgian coach considers Kim Min-jae part of his first-choice center-back pairing at Bayern.

The South Korean has been carrying some physical issues lately but that hasn't stopped him from delivering strong performances consistently. The player spoke to TZ's Kessler Philipp about his desire to play every single game despite the physical problems.

The exact nature of Kim’s physical problems is unclear, but they are likely the result of the accumulated wear and tear from playing games every three or four days. As a key player for both the South Korean national team and FC Bayern, Kim Min-jae rarely gets adequate time for rest and recovery. Kim, alongside Joshua Kimmich, is the only player to have started every single game for Bayern this season. The center-back has accumulated a total of 1,685 minutes of playing time for Bayern across all competitions thus far in the 24/25 campaign.

While his desire to participate in every single game is admirable, it may not be the most wise decision since managing playing time is incredibly crucial in a congested fixture calendar. A decent amount of rotation is necessary for avoiding muscle injuries and fatigue, and also helping in maintaining a high performance level throughout the season.

The lack of backup center-backs could be a big reason why Kim hasn’t been rested so far. Other than Eric Dier, who himself isn’t highly suited for Kompany’s style of play, Bayern don’t have another available center-back until Hiroki Ito's return from a long-term injury in early 2025.

Bayern happy with Kim’s improvement on the ball

TZ also reported that Bayern have been impressed with the performances of the 28-year-old, particularly with the improvement he’s shown on the ball. The defender has completed over 500 forward passes and is ranked first among all center-backs in Europe’s top five leagues.

Kim, along with his center-back partner Dayot Upamecano are crucial in initiating the buildup from the back in Vincent Kompany’s system, and so far they have done a great job at it.  With 11 clean sheets (7 in the Bundesliga, 2 in the UCL, and 2 in the DFB Pokal) Bayern have been one of the best defensive teams in Europe this season with Kim Min-jae playing a pivotal role in it.

Kim has taken a huge leap in terms of quality of performances when compared to last season, which was highly inconsistent for the Korean defender. Coming in from a Scudetto winning Napoli side, the centre-back wasn’t able to reach his Napoli levels under Thomas Tuchel. But this season he has turned the corner and is finally delivering at a high level.