Son Heung-min boasts an impressive scoring record against Liverpool and turned down the opportunity to sign for Jurgen Klopp earlier in his career
Liverpool have several reasons to fear a potent Tottenham Hotspur side on Sunday, but over the years they will have learned to fear one player more than any other when the two teams meet. Son Heung-Min is thoroughly enjoying himself against the Reds and has a goalscoring record that would touch any side.
The South Korean seemed to enjoy tormenting the Reds and former boss Jurgen Klopp more than any other side and although there is a new man in the dugout for Liverpool, Arne Slot is fully aware of the threat Ange Postecoglu’s potent, if inconsistent, side pose.
And while he can be considered one of the nicer players in the Premier LeagueLiverpool still have reason to be weary of the sight of Spurs’ South Korean forward. After all, he has scored eight goals from his last eleven Premier League starts against Liverpool.
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Yet Son’s performance against Liverpool does not stand up to scrutiny despite all his strikes. He has won just two of the 18 games he has featured against the Reds. And of course that includes Tottenham’s defeat in Champions League Final 2019.
Still, Slot will be all too aware that the South Korean is a danger man who could deal a major blow to his title hopes if he maintains such form on Sunday. And if Slot has any doubts, his predecessor certainly knew that the forward, now 32 years old, is almost impossible to stop.
“One of the biggest mistakes in my life is not signing Son Heung-min,” he told the Korean channel. KBS News in November 2021. “Outstanding player. He is fantastic, a sign of Korean football and one of the best strikers in the world.”
The German failed to sign the forward for Borussia Dortmund when he left Hamburg in 2013, as Son opted to join Bayer Leverkusen instead in a €10m deal.
– I wanted to stay in the Bundesliga. Leverkusen and Dortmund wanted me,” the South Korean later recalled when explaining his decision to reject Klopp. “Both teams play in Champions League but I thought Dortmund would use rotation more than Leverkusen.
“That’s why I chose Leverkusen over Dortmund. It’s really important to play regularly at my age.”
Two years later, after scoring 29 goals in two campaigns for Leverkusen, he would sign for Spurs for £22m the same summer Klopp left the Bundesliga. Now a Tottenham Premier League legend, he has 169 goals from 427 games over 10 seasons. But crucially, no trophies.
Given Klopp’s admiration for Son, Liverpool have been sporadically linked with his services over the years. Yet that ship seems to have long since sailed.
But while the German may consider it one of his “biggest mistakes” not to sign the South Korean, Liverpool will have no regrets. The son is the same age as their famous, now dismantled, attacking triumvirate Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Salah, after all.
Firmino would make his own switch from the Bundesliga to the Premier League in the same summer as Son, joining the Reds for £29m from Hoffenheim. After enduring a slow start, partly due to injury, when Klopp took over as manager in October 2015 and inherited the Brazilian, the forward was revived and became a legend at the club.
As for Mane, he was signed from Southampton for £34m in the summer of 2016. Klopp had previously tried to sign the Senegalese for Dortmund, as he had also tried with Son, only to decide on the switch. He would later admit he could have hit himself for such a decision, and made sure to correct at Anfieldrectify a fault he could not with regard to the South Korean, when the 31-year-old became available.
Mane would register 120 goals and 38 assists from 269 games for Liverpool before leaving for Bayern Munich in a £35million switch last year.
Meanwhile, Salah signed from AS Roma for £43.9m in the summer of 2017. He currently boasts 227 goals for the club and is enjoying one of the best campaigns since his arrival. He will leave as one of the greatest players in the club’s history.
Between them, the trio would help transform the Reds’ fortunes under Klopp. While Firmino and Mane would help propel Liverpool back into the Champions League, the addition of Salah contributed to their transformation into one of Europe’s strongest sides.
All three would win every major honor offered to them under Klopp as the Reds were crowned champions of England, Europe and the world.
And with Salah – as Son at Spurs – still leading Liverpool’s charge, they could be even more honored in Slott’s first campaign as Liverpool boss.
A version of this article was first published in April 2023
