Tottenham are putting Son Heung-min's captaincy on the line against a clear winner

The end of an era is coming.
Tottenham Hotspur FC v Brighton & Hove Albion FC - Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur FC v Brighton & Hove Albion FC - Premier League | Visionhaus/GettyImages

Son Heung-min is one of the biggest legends in the history of Tottenham Hotspur, and he sealed his status as certainly the greatest modern legend of the club by playing a role in the team hoisting its first Europa League title in 41 years.

The sad truth is, though, that Son was only a bit player for Tottenham by the end of the season, even though he finished the campaign with more Premier League goal contributions than anyone else on the team. Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson, and even Mathys Tel were playing more important roles than Son by the conclusion of the campaign.

Son's future was placed up in the air at the start of the transfer window, but it looks like Tottenham and the South Korean superstar agreed to have him stay around for the final year of his contract to help bridge a new era for Thomas Frank with the club only just getting back to the Champions League as a very young squad.

But the time to plan for the future has already come. It appears Tottenham are getting ready to transition away from Son, and that starts with having an open discussion about whether or not Son is the right man to continue to lead the club as the captain.

Tottenham's future is now

Frank recently revealed that when Tottenham face Reading, he will actually split captaincy duties by half between the left winger Son Heung-min and center back Cristian Romero, who was the team's standout player at the end of the season in the Europa League, winning the competition's Player of the Tournament award.

Romero was mired in transfer rumors himself as vice captain, even flirting with Atletico Madrid at one point, but he reaffirmed his commitment to Tottenham despite Ange Postecoglou's dismissal, showing Thomas Frank an important buy-in. He also rebuffed interest from Atleti, but Spurs holding firm against selling their valuable center back for less than his worth.

Although Son is impossible to top in terms of legacy, the reality is that he won't be starting all the games next season with Tel - and potentially someone else - coming in as left wingers. The future is now, and Romero showed so much grit and leadership despite some stick from his own fans that he really bought himself a groundswell of support.

Frank told reporters he is going to make a decision on the captaincy himself between Son and Romero, and while he can't go wrong with either pick, Romero is a World Cup and Copa America winner in his prime at center back who has shown the moxie Spurs need to lead their future charge.