Tottenham summer signing receives first international call-up

Tottenham Hotspur summer signing Yang Min-Hyeok has received his first call-up to the South Korea senior national team

Despite being just 18 years of age, he has been called up by manager Hong Myung-bo ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifiers, where they will face Palestine and Oman. The manager told Reuters:

"I think he has done enough this season to deserve a spot on the national team. His body of work for this season speaks for itself, and I think this was the right time to give him this opportunity. A lot of people have high expectations of him, and I hope he can do some good things for us here. And it’s up to him to keep earning these chances."

This call-up shows just how well Min-Hyeok has been progressing in his development. He was named the K-League player of the month in July after three goals and an assist, shorty before featuring against Spurs for the K-League all-stars.

Former Manchester United and England player Jesse Lingard had words of encouragement for Min-Hyeok before Seoul played Gangwon on Saturday, telling him that he would really like London and that if he needs any help, he would be willing to provide it.

Tottenham summer signing receives first international call-up

There is a chance Min-Hyeok and his idol, Heung Min-Son, will play together before the former arrives at Spurs at the conclusion of the K-League season, in January - when South Korea plays in the aforementioned World Cup qualifiers against Palestine and Oman.

The Spurs captain even thinks that his compatriot will be better than him, telling Football Focus:

"He's quite a young player, he's been very bright in his first season in the K-League - so he's doing amazingly for his first year. I'm looking forward to him coming and playing here."

"Probably he will be better than me [in the future], I hope every young young player becomes better than me as soon as possible, and then Korean football gets better and better."

As humble as ever, but also a glowing endorsement from the Spurs number 7 on his countryman and soon-to-be international and club team-mate. If Min-Hyeok is half the player for Spurs that Son has been, it will have been an almighty coup.