Son Heung-min wanted to leave Tottenham Hotspur at the beginning of his four-year stay in north London, but claims Mauricio Pochettino convinced him to remain at Spurs.
Son, 27, is arguably just as important at Tottenham as Harry Kane, as he continues to score plenty of goals and create just as many for Pochettino’s side. He will be relied upon to shine against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
The South Korea captain, though, struggled during the early stages of his Tottenham spell after joining the club from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2015 for £22million (Mail). He scored just eight goals in his first season, and suffered an injury.
Since then, he has scored 21 goals in 2016-17, 18 in 2017-18 and then another 20 last time around. He already has two goals and three assists in seven games this season, but did admit that he wanted to return to Germany at the beginning of his Spurs spell.
“I got injured and it was difficult to find a connection again,” Son said. “I didn’t play and wanted to go back to Germany because I felt very comfortable there. But the coach has always encouraged me. He was the right coach for me in this situation.
“I said I’d like to leave the club, but he really wanted me to do well at Tottenham. He gave me new self-confidence. The talks went so well that at some point I pushed aside my thoughts of change.”
TBR’s view – Son is becoming an icon at Tottenham
A fan favourite, Son has become one of the leaders of the Spurs side – perhaps helped by his captaincy at national team level – and he looks more than likely to remain in north London for years to come.
Unlike Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, Son seems content at Spurs and fans have no concerns about his future. Indeed, he is contracted until the summer of 2023. He is becoming an icon at Tottenham, with only five appearances before he completes 200 outings for Spurs.
