'Transfer countdown' Lee Kang-in celebrates double joy, surges to No. 1 in Star Ranking for 18 consecutive weeks... Son Heung-min reclaims third place

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Kang-in (25, Paris Saint-Germain), who is on the verge of transferring to Atletico Madrid in Spain, has secured the No. 1 spot in the men's category of the Star Ranking by Star Sports for 18 consecutive weeks.

In the 55th vote for the men's category of the Star Ranking by Star Sports, held from 3:01 p.m. on the 9th to 3:00 p.m. on the 16th over a week-long period, Lee Kang-in received the highest number of votes with 13,779.

Lee Kang-in first rose to No. 1 in the 38th vote and has since maintained his top position for an impressive 18 consecutive weeks, continuing as the most popular male sports star.

Building on his performances with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and at the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, Lee Kang-in is preparing to transfer to the prestigious Spanish club Atletico Madrid.

All procedures related to the transfer have already been finalized, and it is expected that an official announcement will be made as early as this week or no later than early next week in Spain. The transfer fee is reported to reach up to 40 million euros (approximately 68.1 billion won).

Following Lee Kang-in, Heo Woong (33, Busan KCC) secured second place with 4,109 votes. Son Heung-min (34, LAFC) reclaimed third place with 3,358 votes, while Kim Do-young (23, KIA Tigers) moved up one rank to fourth place with 1,806 votes.

In contrast, Lee Seung-woo (28, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), who had ranked third in the previous week's vote, dropped two ranks from fifth to seventh with 1,519 votes.

The Star Ranking is a system where fans directly vote for their favorite stars through the StarNews website to determine the rankings. Selected stars receive various special benefits based on the voting results.

Recently, the Star Ranking significantly expanded its candidate pool, intensifying the competition among fans. Starting from the 49th vote, five new candidates were added: Oh Hyun-kyu (Besiktas), Cho Gue-sung (Midtjylland), and Lee Seung-woo (all football); Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha Eagles) and Koo Ja-wook (Samsung Lions; both baseball).

As a result, in addition to the existing candidates—Lee Kang-in, Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, Kim Min-jae, Yang Min-hyuk (all football); Kim Do-young, Yang Hyeon-jong, Ryu Hyun-jin, Kim Ha-seong, Lee Jung-hoo, Kim Hye-seong (all baseball); Heo Woong and Heo Hun (both basketball); Heo Su-bong (volleyball); and Woo Sang-hyuk (track and field)—new candidates have been added, bringing the total number of stars competing fiercely to 20.

The upcoming Star Ranking men's sports 56th vote will be conducted over a week from 3:01 p.m. on the 16th to 3:00 p.m. on the 23rd.

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*This content was translated by AI.