So while it isn’t official yet, we are fairly certain that by tomorrow SHM will be unveiled officially as a Tottenham player, most likely inheriting the #7 jersey that Lamela will soon vacate when he goes on loan to Internazionale. The price is rumored to be 30 million euros (22 million pounds), a record sell for Bayer Leverkusen. Read on for the full story.
Early morning, around 7-8 AM EST, a whole bunch of the most reliable news sources, including Kicker.de, announced that SHM was already in London undergoing a medical. Of course the Korean fanbase went crazy with conflicting emotions. But other sources were saying BS, that SHM was included in the match squad against Lazio. Well now that he’s not on the squad vs Lazio, and Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller was quoted as saying “we’re ready to let him leave” and that they were ready to find “a solution.”
Let’s think about why he might’ve wanted to leave in the first place.
First off, SHM has said he wanted to play in England for a while now. Second, it seems that SHM was mad at Leverkusen for not letting him leave for the Asian Games, especially because he’s 23 and nearing military service. Perhaps his poor performances (and getting pulled at halftime vs Lazio) was a result of him wanting out all along?
Also, apparently his buyout clause expired in May:
The buy-out clause in Son’s contract – which was worth €22.5m – expired in May, meaning that Leverkusen have been able to drive up the fee for him; €30m would represent a club record, eclipsing the €21m [£18m] that they received from Chelsea for André Schürrle in 2013. Son was signed from Hamburg for €10mthat summer to replace Schurrle.
We should have mixed feelings about this. SHM seriously needs a new challenge and seems to have gotten complacent over at Leverkusen. People have also suggested that he fits Pocchetino’s system better than Roger Schmidt’s. You may say that Leverkusen = CL and Tottenham = EL but Leverkusen has a good chance of falling down to EL anyway. Now, competition could be a problem for SHM, but considering his high fee I’m fairly confident SHM will feature. Moreover the current TTH wingers are Chadli and Dembele, the latter of whom can play literally anywhere.
I’m not too pessimistic over this, because I did think SHM was stalling at Leverkusen. Let’s hope the competition does him good.
I think as long as he continues to start or at least get regular minutes its an okay move. As a team Spurs and Leverkusen are probably similar level. The only loss is Champions League football, which while significant probably isn’t enough to derail his career.