Son Heung-min

Son Heung-min (손흥민; ; born 8 July 1992) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the South Korea national team.

Often regarded as the greatest Asian footballer of all time, he is known for his speed, finishing, two-footedness, and ability to link play.

Son was a ball boy in an FC Seoul home match in 2008 when he was a FC Seoul youth player.

At that time, his role model was midfielder Lee Chung-yong, who played for Crystal Palace and Bolton Wanderers.

Apart from his native language Korean, Son is also fluent in German and English.

His agent Thies Bliemeister said Son was so determined to make himself a success in Europe that he learned German by watching episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants.

In August 2008, Son dropped out of Dongbuk High School's football club (formerly FC Seoul under-18 team) and joined Hamburger SV's youth academy at age 16 through Korean FA Youth Project.

A year later, he returned to South Korea.

After participating in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, he formally joined Hamburger SV's youth academy in November 2009

Born in Chuncheon, South Korea, Son relocated to Germany to join Hamburger SV at 16, making his debut in the Bundesliga in 2010.

A full international since 2010, Son has represented South Korea at the 2014, 2018, and 2022 FIFA World Cups and is his country's joint top scorer at World Cups, tied with Park Ji-sung and Ahn Jung-hwan on three goals.

He was impressive in the 2010–11 pre-season, leading the team with nine goals, and signed his first professional contract on his 18th birthday.

After scoring against Chelsea in August, he was out for two months due to a foot injury.

He returned on 30 October 2010 to score his first league goal, against 1. FC Köln in the 24th minute.

The goal made Son the youngest Hamburg player to score a goal in the Bundesliga at 18, breaking the record held by Manfred Kaltz.

Son scored three goals in 14 matches in all competition during the 2010–11 season.

During the 2011–12 pre-season, Son was explosive, scoring 18 times in only nine matches.

After missing the opening match due to a fever, Son scored two goals within three matches.

On 27 August, Son picked up an ankle injury in the 4–3 loss to 1.

FC Köln and was initially projected to be out of action for four to six weeks.

His recovery was quicker than expected and he returned to action only three weeks later as a substitute in a 1–0 loss against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 17 September.

Over the course of the 2011–12 season, he made 30 appearances for Hamburg and scored five goals, including crucial goals against Hannover 96 and 1. FC Nürnberg at the end of the season to help ensure that Hamburg remained in the Bundesliga.

Following Hamburger SV's 2012–13 offseason moves, which saw the transfers of the team's strikers Mladen Petrić and Paolo Guerrero to Fulham and Corinthians respectively, manager Thorsten Fink chose to name Son a starter.

In 2013, he moved to Bayer Leverkusen for a club record €10 million before signing for Tottenham for £22 million two years later, becoming the most expensive Asian player in history.

While at Tottenham, Son became the top Asian goalscorer in both Premier League and Champions League history, and surpassed Cha Bum-kun's record for most goals scored by a Korean player in European competition.

The 2012–13 season was a breakthrough season for Son as he scored two goals in an away fixture against Borussia Dortmund on 9 February 2013, helping his team to a 4–1 victory.

Son signed a new deal with Hamburg through 2014.

Pundits said he had what it took to become the next Cha Bum-kun, a legendary Bundesliga forward and fellow South Korean.

Son has also represented South Korea at the 2018 Asian Games, where the team won gold, and the 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023 editions of the AFC Asian Cup; Korea was the runner-up in 2015.

In 2019, he became the second Asian in history to reach and start a UEFA Champions League final after compatriot Park Ji-sung.

In the 2021–22 season, alongside Mohamed Salah, he won the Premier League Golden Boot award with 23 goals, becoming the first Asian player to win it.

In April 2023, he became the first Asian player to score 100 Premier League goals.

He is also the club's sixth-highest goalscorer and all-time leader in assists.

Outside of football, Son is viewed as a symbol of national pride in South Korea for his achievements, and has been listed in Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40 since 2019, where he ranked second in 2023.

In June 2022, Son received the Cheongnyong Medal, the highest order of merit for achievement in sports given to a South Korea citizen, for his achievements in football.

Son has been credited for having raised the profile of Tottenham Hotspur among South Koreans, with the club's marketing and social media strategy catering extensively to Korean supporters.

Son Heung-min was born in Chuncheon, Gangwon.

He is of the Miryang Son clan.

His father, Son Woong-jung, is a retired footballer turned manager who once played for the South Korea national B team.

Son came through the academy at FC Seoul, the same club that former Spurs defender Lee Young-pyo played for.