Son Heung-min is set to stay at Tottenham Hotspur until June 2026
Tottenham Hotspur have begun the process of exercising its option to extend Son Heung-min’s contract until June 2026. The South Korean will be at the club for another year, with his current deal running through the end of the ongoing campaign.
Son has had an injury-ridden start to the campaign and has missed six matches so far in all competitions, though there is little to doubt about his qualities which are very much there for all to see. As such, he has delivered in the final third with three goals and as many assists to his name.
Nevertheless, there has been a mixed bag of feedback regarding Son this season and just how much he could have in his tank going forward. With that in mind, here is a look at the pros and cons surrounding the forward.
Pros
Leadership role
Tottenham Hotspur lack a leader. Since Hugo Lloris and Harry Kane left, Son Heung-min has been their captain. While he may not be the loudest man on the pitch and in the dressing room, there is a certain sense of respect which he commands from his teammates as well as the fans.
Ange Postecoglou is particularly appreciative of Son’s personality, something which other leadership candidates in the squad like Cristian Romero and Dejan Kulusevski don’t have just yet. If Son departed next year, it would have come at the cost of losing yet another long-time servant of the club and a deserving captain.
Mentor for Mikey Moore
Tottenham Hotspur have not spend any money on bringing in a specialist left winger to replace Son Heung-min in the longer run. Timo Werner has done little to impress over his couple of spells on loan, so it is unlikely that his move would be made permanent next year either.
Mikey Moore is seemingly the chosen one to take over from the Spurs captain and next year might have been a bit too soon for him to be thrown into the first-team mix. Son can help ease the transition by working closely with the 17-year-old for the next year and a half, by which time Moore would hopefully be ready to succeed him for good.
No free agency
Son Heung-min’s departure as a free agent would have been detrimental for Tottenham, even at this age. There has already been murmur about him moving to the Saudi Pro League next year, which in spite of his contract extension, could be a realistic prospect in the last bit of his career.
If indeed the Middle Easterners are interested in Son now, they will need to pay a fee to Tottenham. Solely from the club’s financial point of view, that is a win-win situation as a player who will turn 33 next July would be departing for a respectable transfer sum.
Cons
Salary
Son Heung-min is paid £190,000 per week and is the highest earner at Tottenham Hotspur. The financial details of his newer deal are yet to be determined but it is safe to assume that his salary would not drastically reduce, were it not too increase either.
Spurs are gambling on a player that has been injured for a little less than half the season. Instead, the amount they are paying Son could have been channelled towards bringing in a player that is a few years younger and can take over from the Tottenham skipper right from the word go next year.
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Injury factor
Son Heung-min has been a fairly healthy player for much of his career but this season has seen him miss half a dozen matches already. He picked up an injury some weeks back, recovered from it, and then was again overloaded from being pushed into the thick of the action.
Even the fittest of players can pull up in quick time at the end of their careers and again in Son’s case, it remains to be seen if Tottenham are making the right decision in extending his stay till 2026 in spite of his precarious injury record only three months into the campaign.
