150 Lee Kang-in Videos in Transfer Week, and the Most-Watched One Was About His Childhood
Key Takeaways
- · 아틀레티코 마드리드는 한국시간 2026년 7월 25일 이강인 영입을 발표했고 계약은 2031년 6월 30일까지 5년입니다. 이적료는 3,500만 유로에 옵션 500만 유로를 더한 총액 4,000만 유로입니다.
- · Dhesy 데이터 기준 7월 17일부터 27일 오전까지 제목에 '이강인'이 들어간 영상은 150편, 채널 65개, 합계 1,464만 뷰입니다. 발표 당일과 다음 날 이틀에 전체의 67.5%가 몰렸습니다.
- · 조회수 1위는 이적 보도가 아니라 쇼츠 '이강인의 어릴 적 친구의 정체' 261만 뷰입니다. 이적 발표를 정면으로 다룬 영상 최고치는 JTBC News 롱폼 117만 뷰였습니다.
- · 구독자 9만 8,200명 채널의 쇼츠 2편이 401만 뷰, 구독자 489만 명 채널의 12편이 166만 뷰입니다. 구독자 약 50배 차이가 합계 조회수 2.4배 역전으로 나타났습니다.
- · 150편 중 쇼츠 64편이 999만 뷰로 전체 조회수의 68.2%를 가져갔고, 채널 65개 가운데 33개만 스포츠 분류입니다. 다음 확인 지점은 8월 9일 서울월드컵경기장 평가전입니다.
Atletico Madrid welcomed Lee Kang-in with footage of him as a child on the Korean TV show 'Shoot for Love,' JTBC Newsroom reported on July 25 (KST). The most-watched Lee Kang-in video on Korean YouTube that week was also about his childhood. In the week the transfer was announced, the top of the ranking did not go to transfer news.
The scope here is Dhesy data: 150 videos published between 00:00 on July 17 and 07:20 on July 27, 2026 (KST) with '이강인' in the title. That covers 65 channels and 14.64 million combined views.
Atletico's Welcome Post Used Footage of a Seven-Year-Old Lee Kang-in
Atletico Madrid posted on July 25 (KST) that it had "reached an agreement with PSG for the transfer of Korea international Lee Kang-in," with a contract running to June 30, 2031. For the welcome content the club chose childhood footage rather than recent match highlights. Around the announcement, 150 videos with his name in the title went up on Korean YouTube over the ten days in scope.
Hello everyone. I am very happy to join a big club. I want to wear the Atletico Madrid shirt soon and enjoy this new adventure with the fans. Aupa Atleti!
That was Lee Kang-in's arrival message in Spanish, posted on the club's official account on July 26. He joined Valencia's youth setup in 2011 at the age of ten and learned the game in Spain, so the Spanish greeting and the childhood footage were consumed as one package.
A 40 Million Euro Fee, a Deal Through 2031, and Griezmann's Number 7
The fee is 35 million euros plus 5 million in add-ons, for a total of 40 million euros. Won conversions differ by outlet: Maeil Business Newspaper wrote up to 66.5 billion won, while Hankyoreh wrote 67.1 billion won. Either way, multiple outlets reported it as the second-largest fee ever for a Korean player, behind Kim Min-jae's 2023 move from Napoli to Bayern Munich.
The number 7 belonged to Antoine Griezmann, who left for Orlando City in MLS. Chosun Ilbo and Munhwa Ilbo described it as the shirt of the team's leading man, and reports added that Lee Kang-in becomes the first Korean player to feature for the senior side of one of Spain's three biggest clubs.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Announcement | July 25, 2026 (KST) |
| Contract | Through June 30, 2031 (five years) |
| Fee | 35M euros plus 5M in add-ons (40M total) |
| Won conversion in Korean media | 66.5bn won (Maeil Business) to 67.1bn won (Hankyoreh) |
| Shirt number | 7 (previously Antoine Griezmann) |
| La Liga record | Five seasons, 110 games, 9 goals (135 official games, 10 goals) |
| PSG record | Three seasons, 124 official games, 16 goals, 16 assists |
| Reference point three years ago | About 36.5bn won when he moved from Mallorca to PSG in 2023 |
Against that 2023 move, the won figures put this transfer at roughly 1.8 times the size. On contract terms alone, this was a week built for those numbers to dominate Korean YouTube.
43 Videos Went Up on July 25 Alone
Dhesy data shows 49 videos over the eight days from July 17 to July 24, an average of 6.1 per day. On July 25, the day of the announcement, that jumped to 43, and July 26 brought 54. The three days after the announcement come to 101 videos, though the count of 4 for July 27 is a partial tally through 07:20 that morning rather than a full day.
제목에 '이강인'이 들어간 영상의 일자별 업로드 편수 (Dhesy 데이터 기준, KST)
* Source: Dhesy
Views followed the same curve. The announcement day and the day after accounted for 9.89 million views on their own, 67.5% of the 14.64 million total in scope. Demand crowding into a few days after a single announcement is a familiar pattern: the same curve showed up when the Avengers: Doomsday teaser drew 500 million views in 24 hours.
The Most-Watched Video Was Not About the Transfer
Rank the 150 videos by views and the top entry is a Short published at 11:20 on July 25 titled 'The truth about Lee Kang-in's childhood friend,' with 2.61 million views. Second place is another Short from the same channel at 1.4 million.
The highest-placed video that covered the transfer directly is a JTBC News long-form report at 1.17 million views, a 2.2x gap behind the leader.
| Rank | Video | Channel (subscribers) | Format | Views |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The truth about Lee Kang-in's childhood friend | 크볼Z (98,200) | Shorts | 2.61M |
| 2 | What happens when Lee Kang-in plays in goal | 크볼Z (98,200) | Shorts | 1.40M |
| 3 | Lee Kang-in signs: "an unprecedented signing" in the Spanish press | JTBC News (4.89M) | Long-form | 1.17M |
| 4 | Lee Kang-in, AT Madrid official | 쿠팡플레이 스포츠 (820K) | Shorts | 0.61M |
| Average of 150 videos | - | - | - | 0.098M |
For the top two videos, only the title, the view count, and the publish time are confirmed. Going by the ranking alone, short videos aimed at viewers who have followed the player for years sat above reports on contract terms. Older content resurfacing ahead of fresh news is a pattern that also showed up when BTS's 'NORMAL' climbed the charts four months after release.
Two Shorts From a 98,000-Subscriber Channel Pulled 4.01 Million Views
크볼Z, the channel behind ranks one and two, has 98,200 subscribers. Within the scope of this analysis it posted two Lee Kang-in Shorts, totalling 4.01 million views. JTBC News, with 4.89 million subscribers, posted 12 videos for 1.66 million views. The subscriber gap is roughly 50x, and the combined view count flipped by 2.4x in the other direction.
| Channel | Subscribers | Videos | Total views | Average per video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 크볼Z | 98,200 | 2 | 4.01M | 2.007M |
| JTBC News | 4.89M | 12 | 1.66M | 0.139M |
| 쿠팡플레이 스포츠 | 820K | 5 | 1.32M | 0.263M |
| esports KBS | 701K | 9 | 1.19M | 0.133M |
| Average across 65 channels | - | 2.3 | 0.225M | 0.098M |
Coupang Play Sports posted the same headline, 'Lee Kang-in, AT Madrid official,' in two slots, one Short and one long-form, drawing 0.61 million and 0.43 million views. Channel size alone does not explain the spread, which suggests placement and length did much of the work.
64 Shorts Took 68.2% of All Views
Dhesy data splits the 150 videos from those 65 channels into 64 Shorts and 86 long-form uploads. Long-form leads on count and trails on views: the 64 Shorts drew 9.99 million views and the 86 long-form videos 4.66 million, putting Shorts at 68.2% of the total. Per video, that is 156,000 for Shorts against 54,000 for long-form.
포맷별 합계 조회수 (150편 기준, Dhesy 데이터)
Concentration showed up once more. The top ten videos combined for 8.19 million views, 55.9% of the 14.64 million total.
Half of the 65 Channels Were Sports Channels
esports KBS, the KBS entertainment archive channel, posted nine Lee Kang-in clips within the scope for 1.19 million combined views. Of the 65 channels behind the 150 videos, 33 are classified as sports, which leaves 32 outside that category, esports KBS among them.
In the week the club reached for childhood footage in its welcome post, a Korean entertainment archive was pulling out old clips of its own. Among those 32 non-sports channels, politics and society, which includes broadcast and wire news channels, accounts for 16, followed by entertainment 6, gaming 5, education 2, and one each for humanities, travel, and music.
One caveat belongs here. This tally collects only videos with '이강인' in the title, so coverage without his name in the headline is missing, while roughly five to eight unrelated videos carrying only a '#이강인' hashtag are included.
The Next Checkpoint Is August 9 at Seoul World Cup Stadium
Atletico play Manchester City in a friendly at Seoul World Cup Stadium on August 9, and Chosun Ilbo wrote that the match is likely to be Lee Kang-in's debut. La Liga opens on August 20 and the Madrid derby against Real Madrid falls on September 20, according to Korean outlets. Three checkpoints arrive within two months.
Projecting today's numbers forward is not straightforward. Announcement-week views are event-moment demand, so the top of the list tilted toward personal archive material; once the season starts and match footage appears, the ranking can shift back toward highlights and news channels. These figures are a cross-section of one specific window around a transfer announcement.
His role under Diego Simeone is also still an open question. Reports published right after the move noted both an expectation that his technique and creativity would add spark to the attack, and a wait-and-see view about how he fits a defence-first system from a manager who has led the club since 2011.
The next peak will most likely form on August 9, and its composition should differ from announcement week. If match footage rather than childhood archive fills the top of the list then, this week's ranking will read as a shape that appears only around a transfer announcement. August 9, August 20, and September 20 are the windows to check.
FAQ
When was Lee Kang-in's move to Atletico Madrid made official?
Atletico Madrid announced on July 25, 2026 (KST) via its official social accounts that it had "reached an agreement with PSG for the transfer of Korea international Lee Kang-in." The contract runs to June 30, 2031. On July 26, Lee Kang-in posted an arrival message in Spanish: "I am very happy to join a big club. Aupa Atleti!"
What are the fee and contract length?
Korean reports citing Marca and other Spanish outlets put the fee at 35 million euros with a further 5 million in add-ons, for a total of 40 million euros. Won conversions differ: Maeil Business Newspaper wrote up to 66.5 billion won and Hankyoreh wrote 67.1 billion won. The contract runs to June 30, 2031.
What does the number 7 shirt mean?
It belonged to Antoine Griezmann, who left for Orlando City in MLS. Chosun Ilbo and Munhwa Ilbo described it as the shirt of the team's leading man. Reports at the time also noted that Lee Kang-in becomes the first Korean player to feature for the senior side of one of Spain's three biggest clubs.
When can fans see his Atletico debut?
Atletico face Manchester City in a friendly at Seoul World Cup Stadium on August 9, and Chosun Ilbo wrote that the match is likely to be his debut. La Liga opens on August 20, and the Madrid derby against Real Madrid is on September 20.
Which Lee Kang-in video drew the most views during announcement week?
Among the 150 videos with '이강인' in the title published between July 17 and the morning of July 27, 2026 in Dhesy data, the leader is a Short published on July 25 titled 'The truth about Lee Kang-in's childhood friend,' at 2.61 million views. The highest figure among videos covering the transfer directly is a JTBC News long-form report at 1.17 million.
Methodology: Based on channel data logged on the Dhesy platform, covering videos published between 00:00 on July 17 and 07:20 on July 27, 2026 (KST) whose titles contain '이강인'. That comes to 150 videos across 65 channels with 14.64 million combined views; the Shorts and long-form split follows the format flag stored by Dhesy. That Shorts versus long-form comparison is the format distribution across all 65 channels covering one event, not a like-for-like comparison within a single channel. Because the set is built from title strings, coverage without his name in the headline is excluded, roughly five to eight unrelated videos carrying only a '#이강인' hashtag are included, and the four videos logged for July 27 are a partial tally through 07:20 that morning. Figures are limited to what Dhesy has collected. Analysis window: 2026-07-17 to 2026-07-27 (KST). Data source: Dhesy External sources: Lee Kang-in leaves PSG for Atletico Madrid, takes the number 7 shirt, 'Shoot for Love' Lee Kang-in joins Atletico Madrid, wearing number 7, Lee Kang-in to Atletico Madrid, fee up to 66.5 billion won, Lee Kang-in joins Atletico Madrid, a prime run expected back in Spain, Lee Kang-in aims to be Madrid's 'GOD' Last updated: 2026-07-27