Darren Lewis has shared how Son Heung-min ‘hated it’ when he first came to Tottenham Hotspur and the Premier League, before Daniel Levy worked his magic.
The Mirror journalist claimed that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy told the 30-year-old ‘stay, you are going to be really good here’ and he did a ‘superb job’ persuading him to do just that because he wanted to go back to Germany.
Fast forward to the present, and over the weekend, Son Heung-min created history by becoming the first Asian player to score 100 Premier League goals.
Son first arrived at Tottenham in 2015 when they paid Bayer Leverkusen £22 million (FourFourTwo) for his services and he turned out to be one of the best signings under the Mauricio Pochettino era.
Not only did he end up scoring goals for fun, and become a club legend, but he also built a record-breaking Premier League partnership with Harry Kane.
But it wasn’t always plain sailing for the South Korea international, which was touched upon by journalist Darren Lewis, as he told Premier League Productions (10/04/23 at 2:35 pm).
“The thing about Son, I remember when he first arrived, he came from Bayer Leverkusen,” said Lewis. “In his first season, he hated it in the Premier League and he wanted to go home.
“Daniel Levy did a superb job persuading him (by telling him) ‘stay in Premier League football, you are going to be really good here’ and he started to improve.
“His English, in his second or third season, began to improve as well. He’s been exceptional for the club. There have been many occasions when Harry Kane hasn’t played against big teams like Man City and he has been the difference.
“You talk about his assists record (50). He has that creativity in the final third to unlock so many high-class defences. I think, even at 30, he could easily play for one of the top teams in the Premier League and in Europe.”
SON IS AN ALL-TIME TOTTENHAM FAVOURITE
From Ricky Villa to Jurgen Klinsmann, there have been many showmen at Tottenham over the years and players who are all-time favourites of the supporters.
Whilst Son wasn’t the type of character his new Korea coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, was when the Germany legend was a player, he has still wowed the crowd during his near-ten years at the club.
A testimonial will be due when he hangs up his boots at Spurs and it will be very much deserved.
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