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Report names the Premier League star who Koeman wanted at Everton and missed out at £22m

Ronald Koeman, Manager of Everton gives his team instructions during the Premier League match between Everton and AFC Bournemouth at Goodison Park ...
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In hindsight, Everton could probably have done more to tempt Tottenham Hotspur into letting Heung-Mon Son swap North London for Goodison Park.

Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur  during the FA Cup Fourth Round Replay match between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 05, 2020 in London,...

Everton showed an interest in offering Heung-Min Son an immediate escape route out of Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2016, according to Liverpool Echo, with Ronald Koeman a big fan of the £22 million South Korean.

The former Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen star is not the first and not the last talented forward to take his time adapting to the hustle and bustle of English football.

And, with his feet now very much under the table in North London, it is hard to believe now that Tottenham would have ever considered selling Son to a Premier League rival.

But with arguably Asia’s greatest talent of a generation struggling initially in Tottenham colours, scoring just four goals in 2015/16, a move to Merseyside was a very real possibility not so long ago.

The Liverpool Echo reports that then-Everton boss Koeman was a huge fan of the explosive forward. But, once the 2016 summer transfer window slammed shut, the chances of Son breezing past full-backs in blue become all the more slimmer.

Heung-Min Son of Tottenham celebrates after scoring the third goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 7, 2019...

After all, Koeman would lose his job at Goodison Park a year later. By then, Son was firmly established as a key part of Mauricio Pochettino’s plans.

These days, the 27-year-old is not only one of the Premier League’s most influential and effective attackers but also one of the best in the world. 16 goals and nine assists for an out-of-sorts Spurs side is an impressive tally – and Everton fans now can only wonder what might have been.

Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates after scoring his team's third goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on...