"You've been good for 10 years" Despite the coach's words, 英 press 'Big Chan-Smith's skills decline'...Why Tottenham hesitates to renew Son Heung-min's contract

Dec 03, 2024

Tottenham's reason for hesitating to renew the contract was revealed.

Son Heung-min's performance in the match against Fulham symbolically revealed why Tottenham hesitated to sign a new contract with him, according to the 'The Spurs News' on the 2nd (Korea time). Then 'Son Heung-min's recent performance has not met expectations throughout the season. It seems that he has not fully recovered from his injury yet, pointing out that he seems to be far from Son Heung-min in the past.

Son Heung-min's succession of Big Chan-Smith was on the cutting board. Tottenham drew 1-1 in the 13th round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2024-2025 season against Fulham at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, at 10:30 p.m. on the 1st (Korea time). Brennan Johnson scored the first goal in the 9th minute of the second half, raising expectations for victory, but he was beaten by Fulham's Cairney in the 22nd minute of the second half. In the end, Tottenham ended up in a 1-1 draw and failed to achieve a consecutive league win. It was the first draw at home in 28 games since April 2023. If he won, he could have entered the fourth place competition, but he failed to keep the lead of the first goal.

Son Heung-min replaced Dominic Solanke as the front-line striker for the first time in a long time. Son Heung-min was criticized for missing a decisive opportunity in the Europa League against AS Roma on the 30th of last month. Son started on the left wing and played for 77 minutes. He showed relatively good performance, scoring the first goal, but the problem was in the 36th and 40th minutes of the first half. He connected with a shot again when his teammates' shots came out, but none of them led to a score.

Then, all at once, the British media came forward. The British newspaper Hotspur HQ reported that Son Heung-min was struggling to score at the beginning of the season. He then had several good chances against AS Roma, but lost his composure at a critical moment. Son Heung-min's goal-scoring ability is still at a level, but this season is far from his prime as he recovers slowly after the injury.

Paul Robinson, a commentator for England 'BBC', who used to be a goalkeeper for Tottenham, said "This is a huge mistake by Son Heung-min. He sent the ball over the net from a distance of only six meters. I don't know how I can miss such a good chance. I can't believe a player like Son Heung-min missed this chance."

Football fancast'Son Heung-min scored a penalty against Rome, but he was painfully sluggish for most of the game.'Inaccurate shooting and pass selection mistakes were noticeable. Tottenham fans are expecting more from Son Heung-min as leader.

Questions related to Son Heung-min's poor scoring ability were also raised at the post-match press conference. Son has only scored four goals in 13 games this season. Coach Enze Postecoglou said, `I don't know if he lacks confidence. Son Heung-min had a chaotic year. He had a good chance to score. He's a player who can take those opportunities, and he's been consistently decisive for 10 years"But now he is suffering from injury. Now it's coming back to full physical condition. That's the most important thing for us."

Coach Postecoglou once again gave Son a chance. However, Son's performance was not very satisfactory. He played between the center and the side for 90 minutes, but only one shot, one opportunity creation, one Big Chan-Smith, 0 cross success (0/3), and 0 dribbling success. In particular, he took over Timo Werner's pass inside the penalty area in the 50th second of the first half and faced Fulham Bernd Leno Keeper one-on-one, but failed to score. Son Heung-min's shot was blocked by Leno Kiefer's good defense.

The 'Huscored dotcom' gave Tottenham 6.3 points, the lowest rating among the 11 starters. Another statistical media outlet, Footmob, also gave Son a 6.5 point rating, the lowest in the team.

Other evaluations were similar. 'Football London' gave a team-low rating of four points. Football London had two chances at the start of the game, but was blocked by Leno. Since then, it has given little boost to the game. It looked like it was floating on the edge of the game. It was a day when I should have brought the game by the scruff of the neck, but the captain was quiet, he criticized.

Andy Reid from Tottenham also missed Son Heung-min's performance. He "It was a really big opportunity. To be honest, Son Heung-min should have scored. He didn't get as many corners as he wanted"It was a really, really good opportunity. Maybe Son Heung-min should have finished it off."

Tottenham fan community 'Spurs Web' also remained at 4 points. Spursweb reported 'Son Heung-min had a few chances in the beginning, but most of them failed. It wasn't the level of performance needed today.

Despite such harsh criticism, Postecoglou defended Son Heung-min. At the press conference, Postecoglou said, `Son Heung-min doesn't pay much attention to these things. The best goalscorers don't think long about mistakes. So is Son Heung-min. I don't think he's worried about this. He has consistently proved his worth every time." Then "In our team, various players have experienced this situation. The important thing is not to get too obsessed with the past, but to stay focused. I'm sure Son Heung-min will continue his scoring streak again soon."

The future of Son Heung-min is a hot potato. First of all, Son Heung-min's future seems to end with the implementation of a one-year extension option. On the 27th of last month, the British Athletic reported on the renewal of Ben Davies' contract, and at the same time mentioned Son Heung-min. The Athletic will also be out of contract at the end of this season, as will David's close friend and Tottenham captain Son Heung-min. Tottenham plan to invoke the extension option' Son Heung-min and Davis are scheduled to be with Tottenham next year as well.

England 'Evening Standard' also mentioned Davis' renewal and told about Son Heung-min's one-year contract extension. The Evening Standard said: "'Tottenham will also invoke a one-year contract extension clause to leave Son with the club unless he signs a long-term contract extension in the meantime'

Earlier, there was even a 'HERE WE GO official'. Fabrizio Romano, who is considered the top authority in the European transfer market, said on his SNS that `Tottenham has begun activating options to extend Son Heung-min's existing contract until 2026.'

Before that, the British Telegraph said that Tottenham will soon issue an option to extend Son's one-year contract. Tottenham then signed Son Heung-min's last contract (four years) in July 2021, and the club reportedly has the option to extend the contract for another year. 'Tottenham only needs to let Son know that it is exercising its option to extend the contract. Both Tottenham and Son Heung-min agree to activate the option.

Initially, Tottenham was reluctant to renew the contract, but the Evening Standard on the 28th told a completely different story from the current atmosphere so far. The Evening Standard reported that `Tottenham will issue a one-year extension option to keep Son on condition that he does not sign a long-term contract agreement with Son Heung-min.' In other words, it is not that Tottenham did not offer a contract renewal, but Son Heung-min refused. In the end, it can be interpreted to mean that there was a complaint about the conditions.

However, the report by The Spurs News once again revealed that Tottenham was concerned about Son Heung-min's aging curve. Tottenham seems to be hesitant.

Son Heung-min's contract with Tottenham expires next summer. Initially, Tottenham is expected to offer Son Heung-min a long-term contract renewal. There have been constant talks about renewing contracts around Christmas last year. As Son Heung-min also loves Tottenham, the contract is expected to be renewed without difficulty. But the tide has changed.

The Athletic said, `Son Heung-min is still an integral part of the team. Tottenham will invoke the option of a one-year extension to keep him tied to the club until 2026' Another British media outlet, 90min 'Tottenham will enter the final year of Son's contract. It said it would invoke an option to extend this to 2026'

Son Heung-min is second to none as Tottenham's 'Living Legend'. Son Heung-min left Leverkusen for 30 million euros, the highest transfer fee ever for an Asian player, and joined Tottenham in the summer of 2015. Son Heung-min, who had some ups and downs in the 2015-2016 season, which was his first season, has been active since the 2016-2017 season. Son Heung-min, who built the DESK line with Harry Kane, Dele Alli, and Christian Eriksen, played a key role in Tottenham's attack with his unique fast speed and strong shots. From the 2016-2017 season to the last season, he scored double-digit points for eight consecutive seasons. Since the launch of the EPL in 1992, only seven players have scored 10 or more goals for eight consecutive seasons. In the 2021-2022 season, he scored 23 goals and became Asia's first EPL top scorer. He was 100% pure top scorer with no penalty kick points. "'Legend' Lee Young-pyo even said that "achievement at the level of man landing on the moon".

Son Heung-min was also active last season. He scored 17 goals and 10 assists, and succeeded in 10 goals and 10 assists. Son Heung-min, who achieved EPL 10-10 (11 goals-10 assists) for the first time as an Asian player in the 2019-2020 season, ranked 10-10 for the third time after the 2020-2021 season (17 goals-10 assists). Son Heung-min has risen to the ranks of EPL legends in name and reality. Shouldered Didier Drogba, Lampard, Cantona, Rooney and Mohamed Salah. "Only six players, including Son Heung-min, have scored 10 goals and 10 assists on the EPL stage more than three times," said Squaka, a statistics company. "Sonny (Son Heung-min) is on the legendary list." Rooney had the most number of 10-10, followed by Cantona and Lampard with four. Drogba and Salah recorded a total of three times.

Son Heung-min deserves to be called a legend even in his consistency. Son Heung-min set a record of 400 appearances in an away match against West Ham on April 3. It is the 14th record in Tottenham's history and the first non-European player. It is one of the best score in all time. Give Me Sports ranked Son Heung-min as the best No. 7 in Tottenham history and the best winger in history.

Son Heung-min has shown his strong affection for Tottenham. Son Heung-min attends Tottenham fan forum event "Do you intend to retire from Tottenham?When asked "You can't imagine how happy I would be at Tottenham"I just want to see you all smile even if one day I leave this club, and I want to see everyone talk about me as a legend" he said. In another interview "I still want to achieve something. It's not up to me to decide whether I'll be the legend of this club. I wouldn't call myself a legend because I still want to win here. That's why I'm committed. I think our future is bright with coach Enze Postecoglou and this club. We must continue to improve."

Amid the continued issue of renewal, Son Heung-min is constantly receiving love calls from other teams. Saudi Arabia's interest is famous, and Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Galatasaray also want Son Heung-min.

사진=Action Images via Reuters-REUTER Yonhap News

Nevertheless, Tottenham seems to be the only one in Son Heung-min's mind. Florian Flettenberg of the German version of Sky Sports posted on his SNS page that Son Heung-min is likely to stay at Tottenham for another year. Tottenham are expected to trigger an option to extend their contract until 2026. It's almost decided now. The 32-year-old world-class winger also wants to stay at Tottenham. Along with Fabrizio Romano, Flettenberg is considered to be a highly trusted reporter in the European transfer market. In particular, it is familiar to Korean fans by directly reporting Kim Min-jae's trip to Bayern Munich.

Son Heung-min showed amazing loyalty to Tottenham. As there is a one-year extension option, it is likely to continue accompanying him until next season, but only the recent atmosphere is changing.

vanbasten@sportschosun.com