Saudi Arabian League’s Al Ahli is waiting for Tottenham Hotspur’s captain Son Heung-min. It is difficult to recruit right now, but they can recruit enough at the end of the contract period.
Spurs Web, which delivers the news of Tottenham, said on the 19th (Korea time), “Tottenham’s captain Son Heung-min is receiving intensive attention from Saudi Arabian clubs seeking to recruit stars this summer, but there is no possibility that Tottenham will send out its captain this summer,” adding, “The player himself has previously ruled out a transfer to Saudi Arabia, and the club is also seeking to extend his contract.”
The media continued, “Al-Ahli is expected to continue to keep Son Heung-min on their radar and will have to play a long-term game to chase the 32-year-old Son Heung-min,” adding, “They expect Son Heung-min to change his mind about moving to Saudi Arabia someday.”
British media “Team Talk” also reported that Son Heung-min is already 32 years old, so he can play for Tottenham for two more seasons before moving to Saudi Arabia in 2026 and signing the last big contract.
“The Saudis ideally wanted to recruit Son Heung-min when he was close to his prime like last summer or this summer,” he said. “But Son Heung-min decided to help end Tottenham’s winning drought before leaving.”
Son’s existing contract expires next summer. Tottenham seems to have decided to invoke the one-year extension clause in their existing contract rather than signing a new contract with him.
On the 16th, Ben Jacobs, a reporter specializing in the transfer market, said on social media, “Tottenham will extend its one-year contract with Son Heung-min this summer and stay at the club until 2026. The current contract expires in 2025, but the Tottenham captain will extend his 12-month contract.”
Son has been rumored to be moving to Saudi Arabia during the 2023-24 season. The Saudi league has been keeping an eye on Premier League aces such as Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, and also wanted to sign Tottenham captain Son Heung-min. However, Son has expressed his refusal.
Saudi Arabia changed its target when Son Heung-min refused. He showed interest in recruiting his Tottenham teammate, Hishalisson, and seems to have gotten closer to recruiting him.
British media “Trival Football” said, “Saudi professional league clubs Al Etihad and Al Kardashia have chosen Tottenham striker Hishalisson,” adding, “Tottenham is willing to sell him for 60 million pounds (about 107.7 billion won), which will secure enough funds to secure a replacement player.”
Since Tottenham chose Son Heung-min rather than Hishalisson, it seemed to sign a life-long contract with Son Heung-min, who is approaching the club legend. Son Heung-min also expressed his willingness to stay with the club for a long time, and the club seemed to offer a new contract.
However, Tottenham’s choice was to invoke an extension contract clause, not a new contract. The news was first known in May. Global sports media “The Athletic” reported that Tottenham is invoking a clause extending Son’s contract with Son until 2026.
There were various opinions among the fans over the issue. Some fans criticized Tottenham, citing the legend that a one-year contract extension is an insult to Son Heung-min and that the team does not treat Son properly in the World Class. Others said in a cold-headed way that Tottenham should sell Son and collect the transfer fee.
Various media outlets have also made various analyses regarding this. There were opinions that Tottenham could sell Son Heung-min and recruit a new striker after receiving a large offer from Saudi Arabia, while others said that Tottenham kept Son Heung-min tied by extending the contract period to sign a new long-term contract with him.
Considering Son Heung-min’s performance, it seems right for Tottenham to sign a lifetime contract with Son Heung-min and treat him legendary.
After moving to Tottenham from Leverkusen in Germany in the summer of 2015, he scored double-digit goals every season except for the first season, showing off his consistent scoring ability. In the 2021-22 Premier League, he scored 23 goals in 35 matches, tying for top scorer with Salah. He is a clear fixer who has experienced the peak.
As he entered his 30s, he was concerned about his skills decline, but his performance remained unchanged in the 2023-24 season. It was hard to find him in the 2022-23 season, when he suffered from a hernia problem.
Son Heung-min, who was appointed as the club’s first non-European captain under Anji Postecoglou, a new coach appointed by Tottenham, served both as captain and ace. While taking care of his team as captain, he also led his team’s offense with 17 goals and 10 assists in 34 league games.
He set his third “10-10” record in the Premier League, and only six players including Son have achieved the 10-10 record more than three times in the Premier League. He has scored 120 goals in the Premier League alone, raising his ranking to 22nd in all-time goalscoring rankings. 업소알바
He is also setting a new club record. He added 17 goals, scoring 162 goals for Tottenham alone, and ranking fifth overall in the club’s history. He became the 14th player to play in 400 matches for Tottenham, and the third player to hold the record of 300 matches for the club in the Premier League.
It is understandable to some extent that Tottenham is selling him to the Saudi league. The Saudi league is offering a huge amount of money. It has been reported that the Saudi league will offer more than 100 million pounds (about 179.6 billion won) to Salah and De Bruyne, who are around the same age as Son. Son is less than this, but chances are high he will offer 100 billion won.
If Tottenham sells players heading into their mid-30s for a large amount of money and brings in young players to prepare for the future, there is nothing bad about it as a club. If Son Heung-min leaves after completing his contract, he will remain a Tottenham legend. However, retiring from Tottenham and Saudi Arabia are definitely different.
