Son Heung-min left the Spurs squad on their tour of his native South Korea on Tuesday to fly to Los Angeles.
Son Heung-min has agreed to a contract with Los Angeles FC, finalizing his transfer to Main League Soccer (MLS) after a decade at Tottenham Hotspur.
The 33-year-old South Korean celebrity ahead is becoming a member of LAFC three days after he formally introduced his choice to go away Tottenham.
Son attended LAFC’s Leagues Cup match towards Tigres at BMO Stadium on Tuesday night time, watching from a luxurious suite. LAFC will formally introduce Son at a information convention Wednesday, however the membership confirmed the ahead on the stadium video board late within the first half as he waved to roaring followers thrilled by their crew’s landmark acquisition.
LAFC, a deep-pocketed membership with vital crew success in its first eight seasons of existence, reportedly paid a switch price of greater than $20m, which might find yourself being essentially the most ever for an MLS transfer.
Son was a beloved presence at Spurs, scoring 173 targets in 454 aggressive appearances for the North London membership, whereas rising to international prominence along with his mixture of pace, playmaking talent and ending acumen.
The captain was given a memorable farewell final week in Seoul throughout Tottenham’s exhibition match towards Newcastle, getting a guard of honour from each groups and tearfully exiting within the second half whereas almost 65,000 followers roared.
However South Korea’s hottest athlete – and virtually definitely the best Asian soccer participant in historical past – has chosen an auspicious stage for the subsequent chapter of his ground-breaking profession.
Los Angeles has the world’s largest ethnic Korean inhabitants outdoors Korea, with town’s vibrant Koreatown district sitting simply a few kilometres (miles) from LAFC’s BMO Stadium.
Son Heung-min (backside row, second from proper) attends a Leagues Cup match between LAFC and Tigres UANL (Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Pictures/Reuters)
LAFC is undoubtedly hoping to market Son as a soccer counterpart to the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, albeit on a smaller scale. Ohtani, the three-time MLB MVP from Japan who’s on a trajectory to turn into the best Asian participant in baseball historical past, attracts followers from throughout the Pacific Rim to Dodger Stadium whereas attracting hundreds of thousands in sponsorships and partnerships for the Dodgers.
Son’s transfer to California additionally places him ready to affect and off the sphere on the World Cup, which will probably be held throughout North America in 2026. Son, the captain of his nationwide crew, has already mentioned he’ll play in his fourth World Cup.
After main Tottenham to its first European trophy in a long time by profitable the Europa League in Might, in a becoming cap to his English profession, Son will go straight into the MLS Cup race when he fits up for his new membership. LAFC presently sits sixth within the Western Convention at 10-6-6, however with a number of video games in hand on each crew forward of it resulting from its participation within the Membership World Cup.
Son’s seven Premier League targets final season had been his fewest since his Tottenham debut, however he nonetheless seems to have the tempo and talent essential to be a difference-maker at any degree. He additionally turned 33 solely a month in the past, placing him on the youthful finish of the worldwide stars lately arriving in MLS.
Lionel Messi and Marco Reus had been 35 and Luis Suarez was 37 after they went stateside in recent times, whereas Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris had been each 37 after they joined LAFC final 12 months.
Son will probably be reunited in Los Angeles with longtime Tottenham teammate Lloris, who has been excellent since turning into LAFC’s goalkeeper final season.
Excessive-scoring French ahead Denis Bouanga is the one designated participant presently below contract for LAFC, and common supervisor John Thorrington has been criticised by some followers for not utilizing the complete energy of his monetary sources this season. LAFC spent months on an finally failed try to get France’s Antoine Griezmann to go away Atletico Madrid.
Bouanga and Son have each thrived on the left wing throughout their careers, however Son seemingly has extra positional versatility than Bouanga, making him a candidate to line up within the center and even on the precise wing.
Son appears to be an infinitely higher match for LAFC than Giroud, who moved to Lille final month after one disappointing 12 months in California. LAFC performs a counterattacking, speed-based model that didn’t swimsuit Giroud’s goal-scoring strengths, whereas Son must be proper at house in such a system.
However LAFC might additionally alter its model within the winter, after coach Steve Cherundolo departs for Germany following 4 largely profitable seasons highlighted by an MLS Cup championship.
