'Cheers, Son's Crying' was the meme that constantly followed on the career of Heung-Min Son. Instead, it was people in the South Korean who were in tears last week.
While the full -time whistle went in Seoul on Sunday, the emotions came out when the captain of Tottenham appeared in Spurs Colors for the last time.
Ben Davies, who called Son as the godfather of his child Ralph, cried at the departure of his friend. Other teammates even showed their emotions but the Spurs Media staff cried on the field before the 33-year-old started his new adventure at Lafc.
Except that Son was not only the captain and leader of Tottenham. “Sonny is Tottenham and Tottenham is Sonny,” said James Maddison for the final of his teammate. In a decade in the club, son woven into the hearts of the traces: players, staff, supporters – and even rivals.
First of all, son was the player – and he left the Premier League as one of the greats of all time to adorn it from abroad. “One of the best players ever played as a winger in the Premier League,” said Thomas Frank, which Son announced his departure.
The numbers make it difficult to argue with that. If Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne are the two striking Premier League players of the last decade, Son could put on the argument that he is in third or fourth place in that list.
Son even ended his Premier League career with more target contributions than De Bruyne, who spent exactly the same number of years in the top flight of England as the South Korean.
And the goals that Son scored over the years were also memorable. He scored the first Van Spurs' new era in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against Crystal Palace. His golden boat -winning campaign was canceled with a double in Norwich, giving the home fans a standing ovation off the field.
There were also nine derby from North Londs against Arsenal.
In Europe he scored twice in the opening for 10 minutes in Manchester City in a Champions League quarter final second legs in April 2019. Harry Kane was missing that night with injury, but Son stepped up and speaks memorable to the goals.
Son's partnership with Kane was another key factor of the Modern Spurs era. The duo heat-breaking heights in North London.
The Premier League has seen many memorable partnerships over the years. Shearer and Sutton, Henry and Bergkamp, Silva and Aguero, Drogba and Lampard. But nobody was a better double act than son and kane.
The couple combined for 47 Premier League goals, where the record of Drogba and Lampard with 11 strikes was made. Their 14 setups for each other in the 2020/21 campaign are also an unparalleled Premier League performance.
Without the 32 goals set up by Son, Kane would also not be the record goalscorer from Spurs. It proves how instrumental the South Korean was for the Spurs era, but also for their star striker.
How Kane and Son are reminded at Spurs, creates some debate individually. Yes, Kane was the generation objective that the team fired for relative success. But Son will always be remembered as the one who has stayed. The person who would later guide the team to the trophy he wanted in this year's Europa League.
Son was even the only member of the 2019 Champions League Final Team that was in the club last season. He is the only one from that team, including Mauricio Pochettino, who has delivered a trophy for the club.
In the midst of rumors about Kane's future for years, son never approached the Spurs board and asked for a way out itself. He probably had the right, since he scored 40 Premier League goals in the two seasons on either side of the summer where Kane was chased by Manchester City. But his dedication to traces always resonated well with the club's fan base.
'He is nice, so nice'
It brings us to the next part of the son of the son who leaves with him. Man.
Son always had humility about him from when he entered Spurs. The winger initially suffered from homesickness on arrival in England. “He struggled to settle,” said Pochettino in 2016.
The close friendships he has forged with people such as Davies, Dele Alli and defender Kevin Wimmer helped him to continue, and the role of Pochettino was also important.
Son's first full season in England was not doing well, so much even that the South Korean asked to leave in the summer of 2016.
Pochettino responded by placing Son in the team for the 2016/17 campaign, where Son immediately reimbursed confidence. He fired Spurs to their best start of a season in 50, before he helped them end up as a second time.
“I am impressed by him as a man and as a football player,” added Pochettino. “He is a very nice person and how he works is impressive.” Others in the media would also find that.
Every interview with Son would see that the South Korean always shakes the hands of every person in the room. He always seemed to understand the sacrifices that made people to meet him. Even on his arrival in Los Angeles this week, Son spent more than an hour signing signatures.
There was also the story of then Son came to England for the first time and saw that a neighbor threw a family birthday party. He showed up to introduce himself – and he would then forge close relationships with those who lived around him, regardless of their background.
It would be no different if Son Kane replaced as a captain of Spurs. He would turn out to be a sounding board for every new player, his generosity that extends to helping others to settle. After all, Son had struggled.
“He is nice, so nice,” Pape Sarr told Sky Sports during his first season in the club. 'Even if I say something wrong [in English]He tries to understand to put me at ease.
“Since the first day I met him, we were able to continue. We have a good friendship, he helps me a lot and gives advice about the field and that. I appreciate that a lot and he is one of my favorites in the team.”
But son would not be more popular than in his native South Korea. The enchantment of the attacker in the club allowed Spurs to tap the East -Asian nation at a commercial level. There son is considered a rock star.
That was even seen in England, with South Korean flags, not only with every Tottenham game -but a considerable number of supporters from the country would even stand in line every day outside the club's training field, only for a glimpse of their hero.
Spurs perhaps has the vast majority of the £ 22 million that the club paid for him in 2015, but Son paid off that reimbursement long ago. He has left a unique presence on the Spurs team during his decade in the club.
There are no more than the player to lift the trophy to end the 17-year-old drought. The perfect end.
How to replace Spurs Son?
While the presence of Son as a leader replaces something, the team will fill its target contributions an immediate care for head coach Thomas Frank.
Even in the last season of Son, which causes him to fall for the first time in a Spurs shirt in levels, he still registered 17 goals and assists in the past term. No Spurs Player succeeded more.
There is also a wider context. The second in that list was James Maddison, who could miss the start of the campaign after he was stretched in the last game of Son in Seoul against Newcastle. Dejan Kulusevski, who has received 15 target contributions in the past term, also works back to fitness after knee operation in May.
Spurs has recruited Mohammed Kudus from West Ham this summer, but the attack will have to be further strengthened.
Frank's interest in a no. 10 is clearly due to the failed pursuit in Morgan Gibbs-White, who was the subject of an approach to £ 60 million from the North London club.
The injuries to Maddison and Kulusevski have increased the need for a player in that position, but will a winger have to be replaced to replace son?
Frank was back in South Korea and hinted that an internal replacement is more likely by Brennan Johnson, Wilson Odobert or Mathys Tel, who took the DAN during the pre-season tour, is more a winger than a striker.
With Cristian Romero set as Captain, how Spurs replaces Son, one of the most important points of talk could be when they start a new era under Frank.