New Napoli signing Kim Min-jae said no one can replace Kalidou Koulibaly at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
The South Korea defender was being presented as new Partenopei player after joining from Fenerbahçe.
Asked by reporters how he felt about replacing Koulibaly, Kim said: “Kalidou is irreplaceable.
“I cannot take his place. But I can say that I will my best to play but I don’t know if I will be able to completely replace him.”
Koulibaly left Napoli after eight seasons to join Chelsea, having won a Coppa Italia and Supercoppa during his time with the club.
In 2018, his late winner away at Juventus almost led the Partenopei to the Serie A title and he left as a fan favourite.
Kim also said he rejected other offers in favour of Napoli and is excited to be playing in Europe.
He added: “I was very attracted to the idea of joining Napoli, more so than with the other offers.”
Kim continued: “I grew very quickly and am excited to be playing in Europe, I want to have a big impact on Napoli. There were other Italian clubs interested in me but Napoli is famous and I choose them exactly for this reason.
Kim was asked to name his favourite Italian defender of all-time and opted for a former Napoli centre-back. He said: “It’s difficult to choose one because there are so many good ones but if I absolutely have to give a name, I’d say [Fabio] Cannavaro.”
Napoli have three more pre-season clashes before they open their Serie A campaign with a visit to Verona on August 15.