The captain of Tottenham, Son Heung-min, asked to leave the club this summer.
Until saying goodbye
Son has informed the leadership of the team as well as the new coach Thomas Frank from the beginning of the summer that he wanted to leave, after Spurs winning his first title after 17 years at the end of the last season.
Currently, Tottenham is on a pre -season trip in East Asia and will confront Newcastle in a friendly match at the Seoul World Cup Stadium with a capacity of 66,000 on August 3. This may be the final match of the Korean player in Tottenham shirt. The Athletic has previously reported that MLS's Los Angeles FC Club is interested in recruiting Son.
Tottenham has also received attention from some clubs at Saudi Pro League, the teams are willing to offer a higher salary, but Son is in favor of the plan to join Los Angeles and the negotiations are still happening. Tottenham wants to handle the farewell of the 33 -year -old player in the most beautiful way, as a recognition for his contributions during 10 years of serving the club.
Son joined Tottenham from Leverkusen in August 2015 and scored 173 goals after more than 450 appearances. He was appointed as the captain of the club in the summer of 2023 under the former Ange Postecoglou coach, and helped Spurs win the first title since 2008 after the victory over MU in the Europa League final in May.
In his first press conference last month, coach Frank was asked if Son deserves to decide the future or not?
“It is always a awkward situation,” Frank said. “If that happened. Currently, I have a player who is fully committed and practiced seriously, and will play tomorrow. If a player has been with the club for a long time, then of course there will always be a decision that needs to be considered by the club.
The head coach and the competent people, in this case, Daniel (Levy) and Johan (Lange) will handle that. Because if there is a desire to leave at a certain time, it has its reason. But the final decision always belongs to the club “.
What does Son League mean to Tottenham?
Tottenham has experienced a volatile summer with the departure of Postecoglou, but the information about lipstick will surely have the deepest influence on fans. Son has developed into one of the world's leading strikers during the Spurs shirt and creates a good couple with Harry Kane. Both are the symbol of the Mauricio Pochettino era – the period when Tottenham used to compete for the Premier League championship and reach the Champions League final in 2019.
Son used to be the “top scorer” of the Premier League with Liverpool's Mo Salah season 2021/22, and also scored an unbelievably solo goal against Burnley – a goal that won the Puskas in 2020 of FIFA.
Son has brought Spurs fans countless memorable moments, but nothing overcome the victory in the Europa League final.
Other beloved stars such as Kane, Gareth Bale or Luka Modric leave Tottenham to pursue the title, and Son stays and carved his name in the history of the team. An injury in the foot caused the Korean star to only enter the second half in the match against MU in Bilbao, but he played a key role during the journey to conquer Spurs.
After the final match of the season against Brighton, Son went around the yard as a farewell while the rest of the squad had left, and now, perhaps it is the preparation for this moment.
Son will definitely receive a passionate welcome from the fans when going to Newcastle on Sunday, in the context of hundreds of people who went to pick him up at Incheon Airport Friday afternoon.
This is a sweet moment mixed with both lipstick and Tottenham, but it may be lucky in the risk for coach Frank. The performance of lipstick last season is disappointing and the goal of scoring has dropped sharply. He has only 7 goals in the Premier League 2024/25 – The first time has not reached 10 goals/season since the launch season of 2015/16.
Therefore, Frank will avoid the awkward situation related to the title of captain, and can focus on developing young names like Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert. But above all, Son will leave in a high position and as a legend, after having joined Tottenham to the top of Europe.
