Heung-Min Son to Tottenham: What you need to know
Friday 28 August 2015 16:12, UK
With Tottenham having completed a deal with Bayer Leverkusen for forward Heung-Min Son, we profile the South Korea international.
The 23-year-old earned admirers at Hamburg and continued to impress with Leverkusen, but how will he fare in the Premier League?
Here's what you need to know about the attacker…
Immediate impact
Son joined Hamburg's youth academy in 2008 as a 16-year-old and went on to score on his Bundesliga debut against Cologne in October 2010. That came as no surprise to then team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy. "After a training session, you can see that he is something special," the Dutchman told Bild. "Son is the future. With him, HSV will have a lot of success. He is young, has a good head, and even at the age of 18 is making a significant impact in the Bundesliga."
Move to Leverkusen
After three seasons in the Hamburg first-team, Son became Leverkusen's record signing in the summer of 2013 and soon made his presence felt – netting a hat-trick against his old club in November of that first season. Son helped Leverkusen to consecutive top-four finishes in each of his two seasons at the club and was the team's top scorer in last season's Champions League with three group stage goals.
Consistent goalscorer
Indeed, Son has proved to be a remarkably consistent goalscorer throughout his time in Germany and that's reflected by the fact that he is one of only four players to score 10 or more Bundesliga goals in each of the past three seasons. The other men in that distinguished group are Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller and Max Kruse, so the Korean is in good company.
More to him than goals
And yet, there's more to Son than goals. "He does not only score beautiful goals, but also makes them," said Franz Beckenbauer. "He's a super player. I really like the way he plays - fast and dynamic." Comfortable playing wide or centrally, FIFA's technical committee highlighted Son for praise in their 2014 World Cup report, describing him as "physically imposing, influential in left midfield, mobile" and someone who "creates good goalscoring opportunities".
He's a super player. I really like the way he plays - fast and dynamic.
Anything else we need to know?
Son is a Manchester United supporter having grown up idolising Cristiano Ronaldo and compatriot Park Ji-Sung, but a more potentially significant concern for Spurs fans could be his looming military service. Koreans are obliged to serve a two-year conscription by the age of 28 and the law only exempts athletes who win a medal at an Olympics event or finish first in competition at the Asian Games. Son is yet to achieve either.
