Son Heung-min is the cause and the solution is Son Heung-min.
Tottenham is in tears. It's because of financial problems. British Football Insider exclusively reported on the 14th (Korea time) that Son Heung-min's transfer may have cost Tottenham 60 million pounds (about 114 billion won).
Son Heung-min is a legend of Tottenham who does not need an explanation. Son Heung-min, who left Leverkusen in Germany in 2015 and wore a Tottenham uniform, won the FIFA (International Football Federation) Puskas Award, four EPL Player of the Month awards, and nine best footballers in Asia, as well as winning Asia's first English Premier League (EPL) top scorer. In 454 appearances, the sixth-most in Tottenham's history, he scored 173 goals, the fifth-most. The assist is No. 1.
Above all, he broke the boring resentment of military officers. 'Captain' gave Tottenham its first win in 17 years and its first European stage win in 41 years. Neither Harry Kane (Munich) nor Gareth Bale (retired). The British media also treated Son Heung-min as a legend of Tottenham.
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| Photo capture=Tottenham SNS |
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But if there is a beginning, there is an end. From 2024-2025 season onwards, concerns about 'Aging Curve' poured in. Son Heung-min, who has scored seven goals, has ended his double-digit scoring record since the 2016-2017 season in nine seasons. He suffered from frequent injuries. Tottenham hesitated to renew the contract with Son Heung-min and only invoked the extension option. He had a contract until the summer of 2026, but he had to leave TottenhamThe story of ' kept coming out. 'Untouchable' was a change in position. British media said Tottenham will give Son Heung-min the authority to decide his future course of action. Son Heung-min's decision was 'Beautiful Farewell' Son Heung-min's decision was so confidential that he only informed some of his best friends, including Ben Davies.
Son Heung-min said goodbye to Tottenham after a friendly Coupang Play against Newcastle at Seoul World Cup Stadium in August, leaving behind 10 years of memories. Farewell to Ace, but the shock wave was bigger outside the ground. Sales have dropped noticeably.
Britain's The Times said Son Heung-min was the heart of the team after Kane left. On the day of the game, Son Heung-min's uniform usually sold 700, but after Kane left, it sold close to 1,000. Every game, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was full of Koreans, and Tottenham made a huge amount of money with Korean sponsors.
However, things changed when Son Heung-min left Tottenham after last season. Japan's Soccer Digest Web shed light on the situation at Tottenham's official store after Son Heung-min left, saying 'sales have halved' It even lowered the price of the ticket. It was to clear the empty seats.
On top of that, even sponsors turned their backs. Recently, Hong Kong life insurer AIA announced that it would not renew its uniform main sponsorship contract with Tottenham. Instead, AIA decided to continue its sponsorship only for Tottenham training suits. Former Everton CEO Keith Winnis told Football Insider's podcast "AIA has been with Tottenham for a long time. If you look at their businesses, a large part of them are based in Asia"I wondered if Son Heung-min's transfer would have affected why AIA did not want to pay Tottenham's demands." He then argued that "the current market price of the uniform main sponsor of the top EPL teams is about £60 million", and that "the AIA may not have felt the value of that price".
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| 사진=LAFC SNS 캡처 |
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This is where the breakthrough is needed. Tottenham is preparing for the pre-season tour right away. On the 14th, the Tottenham Hotspur News, which deals with Tottenham news, said that Son Heung-min could reunite with Tottenham in a pre-season game in Korea next summer. The media said the Tottenham Podcas was based on host John Wenham's argument, which said that `Tottenham will be thinking of a pre-season friendly match against LA FC in Korea next summer.'
Son Heung-min, who had been receiving love calls from Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, built a new nest at LA FC in the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS). The transfer fee was $26 million (about 36.3 billion won), the highest ever in the league. Son Heung-min changed the stream of MLS as soon as he entered. LA FC posted an article titled 'Son Heung-min Effect', saying 'The effect after Son Heung-min joined is unprecedented' According to LA FC, Son Heung-min's recruitment effect is more than five times that of Gareth Bale in 2022. The figures are even more surprising, and after Son Heung-min joined, the number of club-related content views increased by 594% to 33.98 billion. Media coverage of the club also increased by 289%. Son Heung-min's uniform sold more than 1.5 million, three times more than when Messi moved to Inter Miami. During that period, Son Heung-min's uniforms were reportedly the most sold in all sports around the world.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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Tottenham seems to be trying to put a spoon on Son Heung-min's still commercial value. Right now, LA FC is also actively using Son Heung-min's marketing, and the pre-season tour is quite a good business. Tottenham seems to be pushing for a trip to Korea because of its face-off with Son Heung-min. Regardless of Tottenham's intention, Son Heung-min's drawing of aiming Tottenham's goal can attract quite a lot of interest. Coincidentally, Son Heung-min's last game in Tottenham's uniform was also held in Korea.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
