Atletico Madrid sign Kang-in Lee from PSG for 40 million euros
The 25-year-old South Korea international has signed until 2031 and inherits the number 7 at the Metropolitano, three years after leaving Mallorca for Paris.
Jul 25, 2026
Atletico Madrid have signed Kang-in Lee from Paris Saint-Germain for 40 million euros, both clubs confirmed on Saturday. The South Korea international has agreed a five-year contract that runs to June 2031, and he takes the number 7 shirt that Antoine Griezmann left behind.
A move Lee had wanted for months
This one has been building for months. Lee’s camp had settled personal terms with Atletico well before the clubs got close on a fee, and the player made no secret of preferring Madrid to the other options in front of him. PSG took their time over the fee. In the end 40 million euros for a 25-year-old with two years left on his deal was enough.
He leaves Paris with a trophy cabinet most players never get near: two Champions Leagues, three Ligue 1 titles, two French Cups, 124 appearances, 16 goals and 15 assists. What he never got was a settled starting role in an attack that kept adding names. He started 18 Ligue 1 matches last season and none at all in the Champions League run, which is the whole reason he is now in Madrid. PSG paid Mallorca 22 million euros for him three years ago, so they have done fine out of it too.
Replacing Griezmann is a job, not a formality
Atletico have handed him the 7 for a reason. Griezmann finished ten seasons as the club’s all-time leading scorer before leaving for Orlando City this month, and his departure takes away the player who connected Diego Simeone’s midfield to his forwards for most of the last decade. Nobody at the club is pretending that gap is small. Lee is a different footballer, a left-footer who can play behind the striker or off either flank, but the brief is the same: find the pass nobody else in the building sees.
Simeone has never been sentimental about how his sides are built, and Lee will have to prove he can defend from the front before he gets trusted with the ball in the games that matter. Spain is not new to him, though. He came through Valencia’s academy, made his name at Mallorca, and left for PSG in 2023 knowing the league he might come back to.
What it means for Korean football
Lee becomes the first Korean player to sign for Atletico’s first team, and joining one of Spain’s big three carries weight at home well beyond what one transfer fee suggests. He already sits alongside Park Ji-sung as the only Koreans to have won the Champions League, and he has 50 caps for South Korea, the most recent of them at this summer’s World Cup.
Atletico open their La Liga season at home to newly promoted Malaga on Wednesday 19 August, with pre-season friendlies against Getafe, Manchester United, Manchester City and Marseille before that. Plenty of time for Lee to work out where he fits, and for Simeone to work out where to put him.