33-year-old South Korean winger Son Heung-min is set to leave Tottenham Hotspur this summer.
Son won the UEFA Europa League with the Spurs last season, which was probably the pinnacle of his career, although reaching the UEFA Champions League final in 2019 must be close to that as well.
However, the 2024/25 season was otherwise forgettable for Spurs, who finished a lowly 17th in the Premier League table.
Son signed for Tottenham from Bayer Leverkusen a decade ago and has since proved himself to be one of the club’s most successful players ever.
He might be heading towards LAFC in the MLS now, which seems fair given his age and dwindling effect as a player.
Son Heung-Min: Tottenham Club Legend
Son has played in 454 matches for Tottenham and scored 173 goals. Those are the kind of numbers that should elevate a player to the status of a Hall-of-Fame player at a club.
Son also made it to the PFA Premier League Team of the Year in the 2020/21 season.
During the last decade, no winger other than Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling has been as consistently successful as Son. It will not be an overstatement to say that Son was the Premier League’s greatest left winger from 2015 to 2025.
Son is blessed with great speed and ball skills as well as an inherent ability to finish. Barring his first season with the Spurs, which saw him score eight goals, Son has never failed to reach double digits in terms of scoring goals in any of the following seasons.
He has played as the centre-forward at times as well. However, Son’s collaboration with Harry Kane, who was the usual No. 9 for the better part of the last decade for Tottenham, has been the highlight of his career.
Son and Kane often combined to score numerous goals for Tottenham, and it was a pity that the latter had to go to Bayern Munich to win his first title as a player.
America Is Calling
MLS, which has been the destination for players approaching retirement for quite some time now, is the league that has started attracting Son at the moment.
Son’s contract with the Spurs runs until 2026, which means that they will not get any value for him should they release him next season.
This means that Tottenham should ideally be able to sell the South Korean for good value and earn some revenue in the process.
Los Angeles FC have made their intentions clear to sign Son.
However, with the likes of Timo Werner and Richarlison not inspiring confidence with their performance, the Spurs are reportedly contemplating a one-year contract extension for the Korean winger.
Spurs have well-performing players like Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson, who are comfortable playing on the right side of the pitch. Tottenham have also signed Mohammed Kudus this summer, who, too, can play on the right.
However, with the Korean losing a bit of his pace and lethal edge, the MLS seems to be the ideal destination for him at the moment.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / PRiME Media Images
Recording Date: 22.10.2020