Son Heung-min will be intent on making a fast start to the new Premier League season after such a frustrating past 12 months for the player. Playing a pivotal role for Tottenham at the end of the 2021/22 campaign with his goals seeing him win the Premier League Golden Boot and also help the team secure a top-four berth under Antonio Conte, it wasn't until Spurs' seventh league game of 2022/23 when he finally managed to get off the mark.
A stunning hat-trick against Leicester City unfortunately didn't kickstart his season into life like many believed it would, but he did still manage to contribute with 14 goals and six assists from 47 games in all competitions for the Lilywhites. Revealing last week that he had been playing through the pain barrier before finally undergoing surgery on a sports hernia injury after Tottenham had brought the curtain down on their season, that issue may well be an explanation for his mixed form over the last year.
With the transfer window now open for business as clubs get their plans in place for the upcoming season, Son Heung-min has found himself in the headlines regarding a mega-money transfer to Al Ittihad. Following a number of high-profile moves to Saudi Arabia in recent months, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, more are expected to follow over the coming weeks with a lot of interest in Premier League stars.
N'Golo Kante's time at Chelsea looks very likely to come to an end with a move to Al Ittihad in the offing, with Wolves captain Ruben Neves on course to link up with Al Hilal in a £47 million transfer. Al Ittihad are reportedly said to be preparing a bid of £51m for Son, although the player is not believed to be interested in a move to Saudi Arabia.
While, of course, a £51m offer for a soon-to-be 31-year-old who is about to enter the final two years of his Tottenham contract could naturally be tempting, the club would lose so much in terms of revenue as Son has huge pulling power as he is the undoubted star name of Asian football. On the pitch, he would leave a gaping hole as he has scored goals for fun in the past and some absolutely huge ones at that.
Amid interest from the Saudi side this summer, Tottenham do have a transfer decision to make over their No.7 at some point in the not too distant future. Son turns 31 at the beginning of July and there is going to come a time where the Lilywhites need to find his long-term successor.
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Given everything that Son has contributed in his eight years in N17 after registering 145 goals and 80 assists in 372 games, that is going to be some challenge for Ange Postecoglou, if he is of course still head coach by then, the manging director of football and Daniel Levy. In an ideal world, Tottenham will already have Son's replacement at the club when it comes time for both to finally part ways, although things don't always turn out quite like that.
Tottenham have never been able to bring in someone who could provide cover for Hugo Lloris before succeeding him on a permanent basis when he departs, thus leaving the club on the hunt for a new No.1 this summer with the World Cup winner admitting that he wants to try other things. Spurs just need to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible when it comes to replacing Son as he is going to be such a hard act to follow.
Forming a dream partnership in attack with Harry Kane after initially taking time to adapt to the English game, the duo have been prolific in front of goal over the years and truly frightened their opponents in the process. Both will leave an immense hole when they do depart and Tottenham are going to have to replace them somehow.
With plenty of time left in his career as he gets set to turn 31 on July 8, Son has an awful lot to still offer Tottenham. The South Korean did show glimpses of his quality towards the end of last season, most notably his run of four goals in five games in April, and all will be hoping that surgery on his sports hernia injury sees put his struggles from the 2022/23 campaign behind him and he goes on to thrive under Postecoglou.
As things stand at present, Spurs have plenty to do in the transfer market if they are to move forward as a club and challenge for a Champions League place once again after missing out on Europe altogether. Certainly not a pressing priority for them in the transfer market right now as a new goalkeeper, centre-back, attacking midfielder and other areas of the pitch need to be the focus first and foremost, Tottenham's incoming managing director of football will sooner rather than later need to start drawing up a succession plan when it comes to Son simply due to his age.
Starring for Tottenham ever since making the move from Bayer Leverkusen, hopefully there is plenty more to come from the player over the next couple of seasons before it is time for him to wave goodbye to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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