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'Is Son Heung-min aiming for the American dream in the last years of his career?'
Rumors of Son Heung-min (33), who seemed to be sinking below the surface for a while due to Tottenham Hotspur's official pre-season training, have emerged again. Following the leading global media, rumors of Son Heung-min's transfer began to burn again as Fabrizio Romano, who is well-versed in the European transfer market situation, also mentioned this.
The Athletic, a global sports media that has a significant influence in the United States and the United Kingdom, said on the 24th (Korea time) 'According to sources, LA FC is moving to recruit Son Heung-min in the summer transfer market. Negotiations are underway to "join Son Heung-min in the second half of the 2025 season", and LA FC aims to join Son Heung-min in the team this summer. Positive conversations are coming and going,' the report said.
Then, reporter Fabrizio Romano, famous for the "European transfer market 1st tier", also offered Son Heung-min a transfer. It is still in the early stages of negotiations, and Son Heung-min and Tottenham have the right to decide. Son's future will also be discussed with Frank.
In the end, it can be admitted that it is a clear fact that LA FC was interested in Son Heung-min and offered to recruit him. The sudden rise of LAFC transfer rumors, which had subsided below the surface, seems to be related to the summer transfer market period in Europe and other MLSs. MLS' summer transfer market deadline is July 25 to August 22. It can be seen that LA FC has made specific moves ahead of the full-fledged opening of the transfer market.
The Athletic said Son has been one of the EPL's top strikers for the past decade. If it heads to LA, it could be the biggest transfer in MLS history'
In reality, LA FC is ready to recruit Son Heung-min. French soccer star Olivier Giroud was sent off to the French Ligue 1 Lille OSC, leaving the team 'designated player (DP)'. Designated players are a system that exists in MLS, and the club can pay such players an annual salary exceeding the salary cap without being subject to salary cap. Each team can have a maximum of three players, but with Giroud leaving, LA FC is empty.
Therefore, LA FC can use this system to offer Son Heung-min more than 190,000 pounds (about 350 million won) per week. This means that a proposal that can tempt Son Heung-min is possible.
Son Heung-min has been a star player in the team for 10 years since moving from Leverkusen to Tottenham in 2015. As a member of Tottenham, he scored 173 goals in 454 games from 2024 to 2025 season. In addition, he was honored with the joint top scorer (23 goals) in the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2021-2022 season and the FIFA Pushkashi Award in 2020. Both the EPL's top scorer and the Pushkashi Award are the first and only milestone for an Asian player to date.
In particular, in the 2024-2025 season, he served as the team's captain and led the team to the UEFA Europa League title, presenting the team with its first championship in 17 years.
However, due to his poor performance last season, he was also embroiled in controversy over the aging curve. Therefore, Chairman Daniel Levy is taking the lead in selling Son Heung-min. In January, he triggered the club's one-year contract extension option and is a member of Tottenham until June 2026. This summer is the last chance to receive a transfer fee.
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Thomas Frank, the new coach of the team, is only paying attention to the club. Ahead of the first pre-season friendly against Reading on the 19th "The club's decision on the long-standing player's future at one club is a matter for the club to decide," he said, giving the club the nuance of handing over the decision.
It is highly likely that Son Heung-min's transfer to LA FC will be decided after mid-August. Tottenham will start its Asian tour on July 31. After playing Arsenal's first North London derby outside the UK in Hong Kong, they will move to Seoul and play Newcastle on August 3. This is part of 'Asian Marketing', which has been conducted five times over the past decade.
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However, if Son Heung-min does not play before Newcastle or falls into the Asian Tour squad at all, Tottenham will suffer a loss. The Telegraph reporter Matt Roe said on the 22nd that `Son Heung-min's participation directly affects the tour's profits. If Son Heung-min is excluded from the Seoul tour list, Tottenham's game allowance will be cut by 75%. Even if Son Heung-min accompanies him on the tour, his participation allowance will be reduced to 50 percent if he does not actually play."
Therefore, Tottenham is expected to make the most of Son Heung-min to maximize Asia tour profits and then proceed with full-fledged transfer negotiations with LA FC. Even after the match against Newcastle, there will be at least two weeks left before the MLS transfer market closes. It is a period when Son Heung-min and LA FC, and LA FC and Tottenham can reach a settlement after sufficient consultation. Attention is focusing on whether Son Heung-min will be able to realize a new 'American Dream' in the U.S. at the end of his career.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
