Son Heung-min

Son Heung-min left Korea for Hamburger SV's academy at 16, so set on making it in Europe, his agent said, that he learned German from SpongeBob SquarePants. At 18 he became the youngest Hamburg player to score in the Bundesliga, and in 2013 Bayer Leverkusen paid what was then their record fee for him. As of 2026 he plays on the left wing for Los Angeles FC and captains South Korea, whose appearance record he holds. Tottenham signed him in August 2015. Wanting more minutes after his first season, he reportedly asked Mauricio Pochettino to let him go, was given the chance to fight for his place, and his goals that September made him the first Asian winner of the Premier League's Player of the Month award. He and Harry Kane went on to form the league's record-setting partnership. In 2021–22 he became the first Asian player to win the Golden Boot, sharing it with Mohamed Salah. His game starts with having no weaker side. He finishes with either foot, which leaves a full-back with no safe direction to show him, and he pairs that with explosive pace, sharp movement and tight close control, a mix that made him most dangerous on the counter-attack. Against Burnley in December 2019 he carried the ball the length of the pitch past seven opponents and scored, a goal that won the Puskás Award and led José Mourinho to call him "Sonaldo Nazario". He can strike a dead ball too, as his extra-time free-kick winner against Australia at the 2023 Asian Cup showed. He was never only a scorer. Teammates and the media praised how hard he worked without the ball and how much he gave defensively, and by December 2023 he had more Premier League assists than anyone in Tottenham's history. That season he replaced Hugo Lloris as club captain, and Ange Postecoglou, who used him as a central striker, said: "He is so team-first orientated, it is incredible". In May 2025 he came off the bench in the Europa League final against Manchester United and lifted the trophy, the first major honour of his career. There are flaws. He has been sent off for retaliating against Jefferson Lerma and for catching Antonio Rüdiger with a raised boot, and his form can dip badly. He looked sluggish and went goalless at the 2019 Asian Cup, and admitted he played much of 2022–23 through a hernia, well below his usual level. Yet he played the 2022 World Cup in a protective mask after fracturing his eye socket, and set up Hwang Hee-chan's winner against Portugal that sent Korea through. The evidence is strongest on his pace, his two-footed finishing and his running on the break, plus an unusual willingness to defend for a forward. His record says little about his heading or strength in duels, so judge those from what you have watched.