Tottenham star forward Son Heung-min has been out for Spurs since Apr. 10 in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals against Eintracht Frankfurt. Son was clearly laboring through something in that game, which capped off a streak of poor performances from the South Korean superstar.
Spurs then shut Son down with a lingering foot injury, and Ange Postecoglou has kept him out of the lineup since. He left some room for interpretation for a Son return in both legs of the semifinals against Bodo Glimt, with more optimism for a second leg return, but the 32-year-old forward has remained on the sidelines.
Now, Postecoglou is telling reporters, via The Spurs Express, that he is "half hopeful" that Son Heung-min will get some minutes off the bench on Sunday when Tottenham face Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
With the Europa League Final against Manchester United set to take place on May 21 in Bilbao, Tottenham have only two games to tune-up Son in the Premier League before facing the Red Devils in a match that will literally shape the narrative of the 2024/25 season.
Even though Son hasn't been at his best this season, he was making an impact early in the campaign before the wheels fell off Postecoglou's bus. Son is the most accomplished player on Tottenham and someone with a proven track record of excellence in European knockout ties, so having him available in the Europa League Final would be huge.
For that to happen, Son needs to play in, ideally, the Premier League matchup against Crystal Palace and then start against Aston Villa to show that he's fit enough to be a better option over Richarlison and Mathys Tel, who have currently been starting in Son's absence. Of those two, only Tel has shown that he's as good of an option as Son right now, and, based on the last couple of months of form, he may be better.
So Son's spot in the starting lineup isn't guaranteed and is penciled in name only. Therefore, it's important for Son to be read against Palace, and while Postecoglou's injury updates initially read as optimistic, the fact that he's only "half hopeful" is quite vague and definitely tempers the optimistic somewhat. It looks like Son is going to be another game-time call this Sunday, and while it's a little more likely than not he plays 10-15 minutes vs. Palace, it's not certain by any means.