Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min claimed to be a mentor to his younger junior Yang Min-hyuk and recognized him as an equal competitor.
“Spurs Web,” a British media outlet that mainly delivers Tottenham news, reported on the 14th (Korea time) that “Son Heung-min fired a warning shot at Tottenham freshman Yang Min-hyuk.”
Tottenham announced on the club’s official website on the 28th of last month that “Yang Min-hyuk will move from Gangwon FC to Tottenham.”
The club said, “We are happy to report that Yang Min-hyuk, a member of K League 1 Gangwon FC, has joined the club after obtaining work permits and international approval,” adding, “Yang Min-hyuk, who turned 18 in April, has agreed to a contract that is valid until 2030, and will join Tottenham in January 2025.”
Yang is currently the best prospect in the K-League. Born in 2006, he is only 18 years old, but he has displayed incredible performance in this season by scoring eight goals and five assists in 26 matches in the K-League 1, where top Korean players compete.
Yang Min-hyuk won the K League 1 Young Player of the Month Award for four consecutive months from April to July, and achieved the best 11 selection six times. Thanks to Yang Min-hyuk’s performance, Gangwon, which competed to stay last season, has been on the rise, leading the league this season.
Gangwon coach Yoon Jung-hwan, a former “genius midfielder” who is coaching Yang Min-hyuk, praised him, saying, “He is better than when I was 18 years old.”
Therefore, when the news broke that Yang Min-hyuk would join none other than the Premier League club, and Tottenham, where the South Korean national soccer team legend Son Heung-min plays as captain, domestic soccer fans fell into a frenzy.
Tottenham, one of the strongest teams in the Premier League, is one of the clubs very well known to Korean soccer fans. Right now, Son Heung-min, Asia’s top soccer star and captain of the Korean national soccer team, is playing as an ace, so he has many domestic fans.
Yang Min-hyuk also explained in an interview with the club that he chose to transfer to Tottenham, saying, “I have a problem of adaptation when I go to an overseas team, but I have Son Heung-min, so it is easier to adapt as a Korean, and Son Heung-min has a good influence in choosing (Tottenham) because he is the captain of the Republic of Korea.”
Regarding Son Heung-min, a Korean soccer legend and senior, Yang Min-hyuk said, “I haven’t felt it yet and I haven’t talked to (Son Heung-min), so I think I can learn many things by going to Tottenham and talking to him.”
Son Heung-min also said, “If Yang joins, I will help him adapt as a senior.” He also gave realistic advice, saying, “Yang needs to renew his commitment to successfully establish himself at Tottenham.”
“Son Heung-min warned that Tottenham’s new recruit, Yang Min-hyuk, will go through a steep learning curve in the Premier League, and that he should prepare for both physical and mental challenges when he joins Tottenham in January next year,” the media said.
“Tottenham fans will hope that Yang Min-hyuk, considered the best young talent from Korea in recent years, will be able to imitate Son Heung-min’s success at Tottenham,” he added. “But Son Heung-min warned Yang Min-hyuk that the Premier League and the K-League are completely different.” 먹튀검증
According to the media, in a recent interview with Man in Blazer, Son said, “It’s going to be tough. I have to say that the Premier League is not easy at all. We have to prepare everything, including language, culture, physicality.”
“I need to be away from my family and everything is perfect to become the best player,” he said. “I hope Yang Min-hyuk is not afraid, but I want to give him a realistic warning. That will help me.”
In addition, he said, “I think I’m doing well in the K-League, but there are young players who want to take my opportunity every day and take my place,” adding that he will face fierce competition if he joins Tottenham.
Regarding Yang being called the “second Son Heung-min,” he said, “I’m still here. I’m not going to hand over my place 100 percent because I worked hard,” adding, “Even though young players are physically better, soccer sometimes requires experience and quality.” He also said he would compete with Yang.
The presence of Son Heung-min, who is of the same nationality and has a lot of experience, is a very positive factor for Yang Min-hyuk. The media also said, “It will be a tremendous advantage for Yang Min-hyuk to have a person like Son Heung-min, the captain of Tottenham. Without a doubt, Son Heung-min will help Yang Min-hyuk understand British culture and adapt to the new environment.”
Son Heung-min, who left Bayer Leverkusen in Germany’s Bundesliga in 2015 to join Tottenham, has been the club’s main player for the past nine years, scoring 162 goals and 84 assists in 408 games.
At Tottenham, Son became the first Asian player to become the top scorer in the Premier League in the 2021-22 season, and he was the first non-European player to be named Tottenham captain ahead of the 2023-24 season. He also scored 17 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League last season, making him one of the league’s best strikers.
In addition, as he joined Hamburg in the German Bundesliga at the young age of 16 and has continued to play in Europe so far, the advice from Son Heung-min’s experience is something Yang Min-hyuk must accept.
Yang Min-hyuk, who is currently called the “second Son Heung-min,” needs tremendous effort both inside and outside the stadium to become Son’s successor. While Son Heung-min also said he would not hand over his position easily, attention is expected to be paid to whether Yang Min-hyuk will be able to establish himself as a long-term successor to Son Heung-min at Tottenham in the future.
