For the first time in more than a decade, Tottenham was about to lose its last global superstar. Son Heung-min, the great hero of Spurs since Harry Kane moved to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023, was about to join Los Angeles FC in MLS after 10 years of attachment.
Since Gareth Bale left North London to go to Real Madrid in 2013, Tottenham has never lacked a symbol, who can not carry the team on the pitch but also the face of the club. Not everyone of the seven stars bought with 85 million pounds of Bale sells the new symbol of the team, but the “chicken house” Harry Kane.
After Kane moved to Munich, Son Heung-min inherited this position easily. Now, when the Korean striker is about to leave, Spurs suddenly “orphaned” symbol. The recruitment of Mohammed Kudus and Joao Palhinha helped their squad stronger but without a lipstick replacement icon, Spurs would lack a X factor.
During the peak, lipstick is considered one of the best strikers in the world. He left the Premier League with 127 goals after 333 matches, and received infinite love from the NHM community. His performance has dropped sharply last season, when only contributing 7 goals and 10 assists/30 matches in the tournament.
And on the pitch, the influence of lipstick is even greater. He was awarded the captain's captain's armband by coach Ange Postecoglou because “he could sit at any table in the dining room, whether he was an employee or a player, and a chat”. The fact that Son could not play the Europa League final due to foot injury, Postecoglou reminded the players that the result of that match would be associated with the heritage of Son.
His influence also spread to the opponent's players, including Newcastle's Anthony Gordon, who described Son as a “model”. In terms of brand, Son Heung-min is the world's leading superstar in terms of interaction and funding potential.
According to AIA research – Tottenham's shirt sponsor – authorized in 2022, 12 million Koreans considered Tottenham as their favorite team. This figure is nearly 1/4 of the country's population (51 million people), and that is almost entirely thanks to lipstick.
This summer, Spurs came to Korea for the third time in 4 years of traveling and Son was the star that attracted attention. The position of Korean “Idol” is an important factor that helps Spurs become the most monitored club on Tiktok. Two sponsors of Tottenham, Kumho Tire and Paris Baguette are Korean companies.
Naturally, no one else in the Spurs squad, or it can be said that in the world football village, can expect to continue raising the club's brand in a way that Son has done.
“Since Park Ji-sung's time, there was always a prejudice that signing a contract with East Asian players was a pure trade decision thanks to the popularity and a large fan base,” Daniel-yaw Miller, expert in sports, fashion and business culture, said. “But lipstick is a special case.”
We have not witnessed a player who can attract thousands of people to the field every match like Son Heung-min. It was a unique thing, and trying to find an equivalent person was impossible, because it was not sure if anyone in the football world could copy the lipstick.
As of 2023, 700 Son's shirts were sold during the competition days – the most of the Spurs players. Certainly, a part of the Korean NHM will still stick after Son leaves, and recruiting Yang Min-hyeok will help maintain that interest, but the expectation that thousands of Koreans continues to fly to see Spurs play is unthinkable.
Thomas Frank's squad is not lacking in talent, but finding someone to replace lipstick is not easy. James Maddison has enough quality to shoulder the responsibility of being the leader of Tottenham, but he has just suffered a knee injury.
Cristian Romero may be a world -class defender and a World Cup champion, but the fact that he or Micky Van de Ven has a superstar, Kane or Bale superstar level is an excessive request. Lucas Bergvall, rookie Kudus, or even Dominic Solanke seemed to be marginalized.
The departure of Son Heung-min makes Tottenham become the only club in the “Big Six” group without an iconic star. Meanwhile, Arsenal (Bukayo Saka), Chelsea (Cole Palmer) or MU (Bruno Fernandes), Man City (Erling Haaland) and Liverpool (Mohamed Salah) have their characters.
