Son Heung-min by Matt Oldfield

Author:Matt Oldfield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Templar

CHAPTER 15

PLAYING IN THE

PREMIER LEAGUE!

The Champions League highs, the hat-trick against Wolfsburg, the superstrike against Stuttgart – yes, 2014–15 had been another stand-out season for Son Heung-min. With each goal he scored, his reputation was growing; not just in Germany, but all over Europe, including . . . England!

Yes, as much as Son Heung-min loved Leverkusen, he still dreamed of one day playing for a top team in the Premier League, just like his hero, Park Ji-sung. And so, when one of those clubs tried to sign him, there was no way he could say no.

Under new manager Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham were a team in progress, moving steadily up the table. Their next target was a big one – breaking into the Top Four, which would mean the chance to play in the Champions League. However, to get there, they were going to need more goals. Yes, they had Harry Kane, one of the best strikers in the world, but he needed support. The previous season, Roberto Soldado, Emmanuel Adebayor and Erik Lamela had only scored five league goals between them.

That was nowhere near enough, not if Tottenham wanted to overtake their North London rivals, Arsenal. So, who could they add to their attack? Their first transfer target was Saido Berahino, but West Brom were refusing to sell him for less than £25 million.

£25 million? That was far too much money to pay for Berahino! The Tottenham manager had a much better idea. He knew a fantastic young forward, playing in Germany, who would hopefully be available for a similar price . . .

Pochettino and his Head of Recruitment, Paul Mitchell, had first tried to sign Son Heung-min a few years earlier, when they worked together at Southampton. With his speed, his tireless work-rate, and his ability to shoot with both feet, the South Korean was perfect for the pressing style of football that the Argentinian wanted his teams to play. Sadly, on that occasion Son Heung-min had turned him down to join Leverkusen instead, but Pochettino still hadn’t given up on signing him one day. . .

‘Come on, what are we waiting for?’ the manager told Mitchell and the Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy. ‘Go and get our man!’

When Son Heung-min heard that Tottenham wanted to buy him, he could hardly contain his excitement. It was even the same top Premier League club that his old Hamburg teammate, Rafael, had played for. They had spent hours together, talking about his time in England. Now, it was his turn – what an opportunity! Yes, Son Heung-min was also looking forward to living in a big city like London, but football still always came first. He loved Tottenham’s tactics, their energetic style, and he was sure that working with a top coach like Pochettino would improve him as a player.

‘Let’s do this!’ he told his agent eagerly.

So, on 28 August 2015, Son Heung-min signed for Tottenham for a fee of £22 million, making him the most expensive Asian footballer ever. Wow, that

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.