Son Heung-min is right in 'Legend', the best 'Winger' in Tottenham's 142-year history

Aug 30, 2024

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'Captain' Son Heung-min (Tottenham) was selected as the best winger in Tottenham's history.

British media Give Me Sports recently ranked the wingers who played for Tottenham. Son Heung-min was the winner by far. The media outlet said Son Heung-min, Tottenham's current captain, was ranked as the club's best No. 7 in history. He joined Tottenham back in 2015. His transfer fee was just £22 million. Son Heung-min took time to adjust. However, he became one of the best players in the English Premier League. He is ranked fifth in Tottenham's all-time top scorer list. He had the pleasure of winning the prize several times. FIFA Puskas Award in 2020 and EPL's top scorer in the 2021-2022 season. Son Heung-min has scored 164 goals and 84 assists in 410 games for Tottenham since 2015.

Following Son Heung-min, the media selected Gareth Bale, Cliff Jones, David Ginola, and Chris Waddle.

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Son Heung-min left Leverkusen (Germany) and joined Tottenham through the transfer market in the summer of 2015. At that time, it was the highest transfer fee ever for an Asian player. He slowed down in the 2015-2016 season, but he has been active since the 2016-2017 season. Dele Alli (D), Christian Eriksen (E), Son Heung-min (S), and Harry Kane (K) have been established. Son Heung-min played a key role in Tottenham's attack with his fast feet and strong shots. He scored double-digit points for eight consecutive seasons from the 2016-2017 season. Since the launch of the EPL in 1992, only seven players have scored 10 or more goals for eight consecutive seasons. It is a record that only has legends such as Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Sergio Aguero, Thierry Henry (retired), Sadio Mane (Liverpool) and Harry Kane (Bayern Munich). In particular, Son Heung-min scored 23 goals in the league in the 2021-2022 season, becoming Asia's first EPL top scorer. He was 100% pure top scorer with no penalty kick points.

His performance continued. Son Heung-min also left 17 goals and 10 assists in the league in the 2023-2024 season. Once again, I joined '10 (goal)-10 (help) club'. He became the first Asian player to achieve EPL 10-10 (11 goals-10 assists) in the 2019-2020 season. After the 2020-2021 season (17 goals-10 assists), he was listed as the third 10-10 in his career. According to statistics company Squaka, only six players, including Son Heung-min, recorded 10-10 on the EPL stage more than three times.

In addition, Son Heung-min set a record of 400 appearances in the league's away game against West Ham on April 3. It is the 14th record in Tottenham's history. He is the first non-European player. The best in this category is 854 games for Steve Perryman, who played for Tottenham from 1969 to 1986. In the 21st century, Hugo Lloris (447 games) and Kane (435 games) are the only players who have played more than 400 games. As Son Heung-min remains loyal to Tottenham, it will not be long before he becomes the most played player for the club in the 21st century. Son Heung-min ranked fifth in Tottenham's history after Kane (280 goals), Jimmy Greaves (266 goals), Bobby Smith (208 goals) and Martin Chivers (174 goals). At the current pace, Chivers' record will soon be exceeded.

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However, there is only one thing that is lacking. Give Me Sports is 'All he's into is the team trophy. After arriving, they lost two finals. Since joining the club, the best clubs in the world have wanted to join him. But he always did his best in every game, running with the famous number seven on his back' he said.

Earlier, Son said in an interview with the BBC, `I think it is also a good achievement to be able to play for a team for 10 years. It is also necessary to show steady performance and return it to the club. I don't think I'm a Tottenham legend yet. I've always said I want to achieve something (a trophy) with Tottenham, and if that happens, I'd happily be called a legend. I came to Tottenham to lift the trophy. I want to make a special year together this season."

epi17@sportschosun.com