Son Deserves a Second Shot at Tottenham

Should reports be believed, Tottenham are being tempted to part ways with Heung-min Son. Mauricio Pochettino and Daniel Levy would do well to resist it as much as possible.

The 24-year-old only joined Spurs last season from Bayer Leverkusen for £22 million, but rarely got a chance in the starting XI.

Despite his lack of impact, Son’s reputation still appears to carry a lot of weight. Assuming the Daily Mail is a reliable source, Wolfsburg are set to re-invest the money they got from André Schürrle’s sale to Borussia Dortmund in a possible deal for Son.

Tottenham have reportedly already declined the £24 million offer from Wolfsburg, but to Son’s critics such a deal would be worth a longer look. The benefits of selling Son could be more than just a £2 million profit. Tottenham could finance their pursuits of Moussa Sissoko and Wilifred Zaha will Son’s sale alone, for instance.

Beyond the relative merits of Sissoko or Zaha, there’s reason to believe that such a swap would be premature for Tottenham. Son still has more to offer.

How’d we even come to doubt that though?

The South Korean was unquestionably a talent when he was brought in last summer.. His contributions to Leverkusen more than justified the money Spurs spent on him. When he was fit and starting, Son showed glimpses of that same quality for Tottenham. He scored the winner at Watford in December, and contributes goals when he came back into the first team following Dele Alli’s suspension at the end of last term.

As valuable as these contributions were, they don’t amount to £22 million. Tottenham paid out the third highest transfer fee in the club’s history in hopes of acquiring a more-or-less finished product. Injury complicated Son’s debut season, and the Premier League’s learning curve can be steep, but it was hard not to escape the impression that the player wasn’t quite living up to expectations.

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The same argument could and was often made about Érik Lamela following his first disappointing season with the club however. How many fans would now regret having sold the Argentine then?

Embedded in Son’s performance for Tottenham last season are plenty of reasons for optimism.

In 1,900 minutes played in all competitions, Son scored eight goals and set up five assists — which isn’t a bad clip per 90 minutes. While not all of those goals came against the most difficult opponents, such a record in what amounts of 21 matches isn’t the worst debut.

What’s more exciting is the potential Son showed. Oftentimes a players effort isn’t entirely represented in goals and assists, and Son’s no exception.

Look at Harry Kane’s poor run of form early last season. He wasn’t lacking for shots — rather, he was just unlucky. Over time with the same amount of effort he was destined to come good, and sure enough he ended the season with the Golden Boot.

On a per 90 minute basis last season, Son shot at a rate and an accuracy — 3.1 shots, 1.3 on target — that was third only to Kane and Christian Eriksen. He tackled and intercepted the ball at a rate similar to Lamela, arguably the most prominent example of Tottenham’s defend-from-the-front philosophy.

The chances he created were slightly less exciting: at 1.5 key passes per 90 he was a step below the 2.76 averaged by Eriksen, Lamela and Alli.

All of which combine to create the exact outline of the player Tottenham have lacked so far this season however. In three matches thus far Pochettino’s side have struggled in attack, failing in particular to find a way through and around defenses. They have all the tools to pass their way into the box, but no true means to force the issue if the opposition backline proves stubborn.

To remedy that lacking, Tottenham’s been on a last-minute scramble to find a direct, penetrative player — hence the interest in Sissoko and Zaha. While those might still be good additions, Pochettino could conceivably turn to Son to be that player as needed as well.

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Son’s commitment to South Korea’s Olympic team has thus far prevented him from featuring for Spurs this season. We can expect that to change when the team returns from international break, but it hurdles will remain.

The question, of course, is who Son will have to compete with when the team does reconvene. Should Tottenham successfully acquire Zaha or Sissoko, Son’s ability to rise to the surface might be limited. If Pochettino can see through a troubled first season, Tottenham could eventually look back on that £22 million as a deal.