Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
London: Korea Republic star Son Heung-min has joined English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in a GBP 21.9 million move from Bayer Leverkusen.
Son, scorer in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup final as Korea Republic lost 2-1 after extra-time to hosts Australia, has joins Spurs on a five-year contract which is subject to a work permit and international clearance.
“Spurs for me is such a big club and a really good team,' Son said. 'I'm a player who really loves football. I learned the game under my father who was a football coach in my school.
“My goal has always been to play in the Premier League and Tottenham have given me a great opportunity to do that and I am really happy to have the chance to come here.
Son’s move makes him the latest Korean to join the ranks of an English Premier League club with talented forward following in the footsteps of international team-mates Ki Sung-yueng and Lee Chung-yong, who are with Swansea City and Crystal Palace respectively.
“I love the Premier League and I am very excited to play at White Hart Lane,” continued Son.
“I have not played there yet but I'd Iove to go out there, show my abilities and perform for the Spurs fans as soon as possible.”
Son’s reputation as one of Asia’s finest Europe-based players was forged in Germany, where he played since joining the youth team of Hamburger SV at the age of 16.
After turning professional two years later, Son became Hamburg’s youngest goal scorer in the Bundesliga in October 2010 when he scored against FC Koln, the first of the 20 he scored in his 73 appearances for Volksparkstadion side prior to his 10 million Euros move to Bayer Leverkusen, in what was the highest transfer fee in the club’s history.
Son continued to evolve as a player after joining Bayer in 2013, making 63 appearances for the BayArena club and scoring 21 times, including a hat-trick against former employers Hamburg, before bidding the Budesliga auf wiedersehen and making the move to Tottenham.
Son is not likely to have too much time to find his feet at his new club with the versatile attacker set to feature in Korea Republic’s forthcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualification double-header, with the Taeguk Warriors taking on Laos in Hwaseong on September 3 before travelling to Beirut to face Lebanon on September 8.
Korea Republic opened their joint-qualifying Group G campaign with a 2-0 victory over Myanmar, with Son scoring the South Koreans second in the 68th minute after Lee Jae-sung had opened the scoring ten minutes rom the first-had interval.
Photo: AFP