How does a woman from South Korea become a football super agent?

Catalina Kim tells the truth, when others may not. That’s what sets her apart from other football super agents. Well, that and the fact she’s not white, European or male, writes Andy Martin

Catalina Kim is not your usual football super agent (Catalina Kim)

She is not in favour of the European Super League, mainly because of her little brother. But the first thing you will want to know is, how does a woman from South Korea become a football super agent in a cut-throat realm dominated by European white males? Part of the answer is that she was inspired by her love of languages.

Catalina Kim was born and brought up in Seoul but went to an international school where she learned English and Spanish. She went to Paris because she wanted to learn French. She picked up Italian in Milan. And, she says: “The key languages for football are Spanish, Italian, Korean and English.” Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel might protest, but really how often do you hear them speaking German? She admits that her French is not very good, “but fortunately PSG speak English”.

Kim landed in London in 2011 and began working in the economics department of the Korean embassy. Her job was to liaise with western corporations wanting to enter the Korean market. And her brief was specifically to emphasise how fun and profitable it would be to open up in Korea. “We were giving them nice words,” as she puts it. But having worked in the private sector before, she wanted to be as straight with them as possible.