EXCLUSIVE: Son Heung-min on why his bad spell will make him stronger

EXCLUSIVE: ‘I know the fans want more from me. So do I’: Son Heung-min insists his bad spell will make him stronger after poor return so far in 2022-23… but admits that the Premier League has ‘changed my life’

• The South Korean has scored only four goals in the Premier League this season
• Son’s standards have been set high during his seven-and-a-half years at the club
• Son admits that talk is cheap after Spurs were humiliated away to Leicester 

This is an interview that starts with an obtuse question. In the 31 years of the Premier League, how many different countries have been represented on the field?

‘Wow,’ exclaims Son Heung-min. ‘It’s gotta be more than 100 right? I will say 130.’

It’s a good guess, just 10 more than the right answer.

Of the 4,635 players that have played in England’s top division since its rebrand in 1992, few have been more recognisable and indeed more illustrative of its incredible diversity than Tottenham’s South Korean forward.

It has been five years since the boy with arguably the best smile in football last sat down with Sportsmail. Much has changed in that time but some things remain the same.

Son has scored only four times in the Premier League and three of those came in one game against Leicester City in September

Son’s standards have been set high during his seven-and-a-half years at Tottenham

Back then, Son claimed to be no football star, just someone who was ‘lucky to play with Harry Kane’.

It is different now, right? ‘No,’ he smiles. ‘That’s still true. I still feel lucky to play with Harry and I am playing because I love football, not because I want to be famous.

‘This league has changed my life. It’s a privilege, you know. I live this dream and sometimes I can’t believe it. When I was a kid in Korea, it was the Premier League badge or the anthem, even the ball! It was all special.

‘That’s 25 years ago and I would have given anything for this. But really nothing has changed in these last five years. It’s been good work, hard work.

‘You all love Harry and 10 years from now I will still think it was special to play with him while he was breaking all these records. I don’t know how much I have helped him but I hope I have.

‘I want people to look at me and not see a superstar but instead think, ‘This guy is improving. He is doing his best for us’.

‘I don’t really care about the rest. Maybe this feels to you like the same interview as five years ago, yeah?’

Before we meet in an office high up in Tottenham’s remark-able new stadium, Son finds himself in one of the car parks playing an impromptu game with children from the local area at a club community event. No superstar, for sure.

On the pitch — the real pitch — things have not been so easy this season. Son has scored only four times in the Premier League and three of those came in one game against Leicester City in September.

There are excuses to be made if he wishes. A fractured cheekbone suffered in November meant he wasn’t 100 per cent fit when he went to the World Cup. It has been a challenging season.

‘I am not blaming that,’ he says. ‘I am just really frustrated. If I wasn’t then I would be crazy. I am really honest about this. I have a chance to help the team but can’t seem to do it like last season.

The 30-year-old knows Tottenham need to get motoring like last season if they are to finish it without disappointment

Spurs striker Son was speaking at Tottenham Hotspur Foundation’s free Family Fun Day

‘It is difficult. I am always watching my games back and trying to improve and see what I can do better.

‘I have had some unbelievable previous years that I won’t forget but sometimes bad times make you stronger and I am just trying to speak positively now.

‘I know the fans want more from me. So do I. I agree with them 100 per cent when they criticise and I feel sorry to the team and the fans and the club. The expectation has been high because I have done well for so many years. I have to do that again.’

Son’s standards have been set high during his seven-and-a-half years at Tottenham.

Over the two league seasons previous to this one, he scored 40 Premier League goals and his partnership with Kane has been one of the most devastating in the European game.

Both men came home from the World Cup with stories to tell. Son, despite his lack of match fitness, captained South Korea to the last 16 where they lost to Brazil. Kane, meanwhile, missed a vital penalty as England lost to France in the quarter-finals.

‘To be honest I wasn’t 100 per cent fit for the World Cup,’ nods Son. ‘Had I had time I would have recovered more. But the country… because I had been captain for five years and had done all qualification with the lads…well, missing the opportunity would have been a nightmare for me.

‘And yeah I think if they needed me I would do everything to be there for them. And Harry would do that too. He was injured against Iran and carried the team with that problem all the way to the quarter-final.

‘I was in Korea when England lost. If there was a last-minute penalty to win a game I would trust Harry, so would everybody. It was Hugo Lloris against Harry. My team-mates. I didn’t want anybody to have a heartbreak. I couldn’t watch. I just couldn’t.

The South Korean forward claimed that the Premier League has changed his life

Son claimed to be no football star, just someone who was ‘lucky to play with Harry Kane’

‘But then I saw the clip and thought I just had to leave Harry alone. He knows I support him. We have had one of the best partnerships for a couple of years and it was so painful to watch this.

‘It’s hard to describe the feeling but I couldn’t even text. What do I say to him?’

Son is genuine, for sure. Every team needs one like the South Korean, preferably more than one.

Nevertheless with 15 games to go and Spurs two points outside the top four, the 30-year-old knows Tottenham need to get motoring like last season if they are to finish it without disappointment.

Manager Antonio Conte is currently in Italy having tried to recover too quickly from a gallbladder operation but Son knows how he wants the season to play out from here. He knows what he must do.

‘We have to believe and we have done it before,’ he says. ‘I prefer to speak from a better position but, look, the manager has been having a tough time in his private life and we need to give him something back.

Manager Antonio Conte is currently in Italy having tried to recover too quickly from a gallbladder operation

Son was speaking at Tottenham Hotspur Foundation’s free Family Fun Day held on the club’s stadium campus during the February half-term holidays.

‘I feel really sorry because he has given everything to me and I want to give him back everything he can possibly receive. I always want to give him my best. We have a good squad and we need to stick together in this tough time and show unity. That’s the most important thing.’

And what about the unmentionable? What if Arsenal were to win the league? Does it matter that Tottenham’s north London rivals are top?

‘They are not,’ he smiles, referencing Manchester City’s superior goal difference. And with that he is gone.

‘See you in five years,’ he says. Still the same indeed.

• Son was speaking at Tottenham Hotspur Foundation’s free Family Fun Day held on the club’s stadium campus during the February half-term holidays.

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