Son Heung-min to ‘wait and see' on Tottenham future after Saudi links
South Korea's Son Heung-min waves to fans after the team's win against Kuwait. PHOTO: AFP
Son Heung-min to 'wait and see' on Tottenham future after Saudi links
SEOUL – Son Heung-min has cast doubt on his Tottenham Hotspur future after saying he will 'wait and see' what happens amid speculation the skipper could move to Saudi Arabia.
The South Korean forward has a year left on his contract and has been linked with an exit after helping Spurs end their 17-year trophy drought.
'Rather than saying anything at this moment, I think we should all wait and see what happens,' the 32-year-old told reporters after South Korea's 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over Kuwait on June 10.
'But no matter where I end up, I will always do the best I can. It will never change.'
Son lifted the Europa League trophy in May to claim his first piece of silverware with Tottenham after helping his team beat Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao.
Despite the victory, Spurs have since fired coach Ange Postecoglou following a dismal Premier League campaign that saw them finish one place above the relegation zone.
Son came under pressure after a series of underwhelming displays but he vowed to come back stronger next season, wherever he is playing.
'I know people may say I had a disappointing year but personally, this was a special season because you play football to win, and only winners are remembered,' added Son, who joined Tottenham from Germany's Bayer Leverkusen in 2015.
'I wasn't in my best form for most of the season but hopefully I will be in better condition going into the new season.'
Meanwhile, Brentford manager Thomas Frank is set to replace Postecoglou, according to multiple reports.
Frank, who has been in charge of the Bees since 2018, led Brentford back to the top flight in 2021 after an absence of 74 years and has established the west London club in the Premier League.
Hiring the Dane, whose contract runs until 2027, would cost Spurs around £10 million in compensation.
South Korea booked their place at next year's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico with 2-0 win over Iraq last week.
They finished top of Group B in the Asian third round of qualifiers and were unbeaten in 10 games.
'I know people just assume that we should come out of Asia with ease but nothing has been easy,' said Son, who came on as a 75th-minute substitute against Kuwait.
'I think we were able to finish well here because everyone came together with the same goal of never losing a match.'
Off the pitch, two South Koreans have been charged with blackmail or attempted blackmail targeting Son, the prosecution said on June 11, with one of them reportedly his ex-girlfriend.
The suspects – a woman in her 20s surnamed Yang and a man in his 40s surnamed Yong – have been in custody since May.
The two have now been 'formally charged and will stand trial while in custody', a spokesperson for the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office told AFP.
According to the Yonhap news agency and other local media, Yang is Son's ex-girlfriend and allegedly extorted 300 million won from him by sending a foetal ultrasound image and threatening to go public with claims that she was pregnant with his child last year.
It remains unclear whether Yang – who local media have speculated terminated the alleged pregnancy – was actually carrying the star footballer's child.
Prosecutors believe Yang later attempted to extort an additional 70 million won from Son this year in collaboration with Yong, with whom she was in a romantic relationship, according to Yonhap.
The pair allegedly made the threats by saying they would expose the alleged pregnancy and abortion to the media.
Son refused to pay the 70 million won and filed a criminal complaint against the two. AFP, REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
23 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Four-week break among recommended player safeguards as part of new soccer study
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - World Cup - European Qualifiers - Group K - Andorra v England - RCDE Stadium, Cornella de Llobregat, Spain - June 7, 2025 England's Jude Bellingham shakes hands with the Andorra players before the match Action Images via Reuters/Albert Gea/File Photo REUTERS Four-week break among recommended player safeguards as part of new soccer study MANCHESTER, England - A four-week off-season break should be mandatory for professional soccer players, with two of those weeks to be a blackout period with no communication with club or national team, according to a new study. Seventy medical and performance experts agreed on 12 safeguards as part of the study released on Thursday by global players' union FIFPRO to protect players from calendar congestion and excessive workload. The safeguards include a minimum four-week retraining period after an off-season break before a return to competition. "Decoding the human body, performance, and sport-related injuries will be a lifelong scientific exercise for all of us," said Darren Burgess, chair of FIFPRO's High-Performance Advisory Network. "However, the results of this study show that there are certain minimum standards such as adequate rest between matches, and proper off-season breaks, that are common sense, aligned with scientific evidence and, above all, required by global occupational health and safety standards." The study's release comes days before the expanded FIFA Club World Cup kicks off in the United States amid player welfare concerns after an exhausting European season. FIFPRO are calling for the immediate implementation of the safeguards which also include a minimum four-week retraining period after a close-season break before a return to competition, and travel fatigue management which would mean rest periods after long-haul flights. Players should also have a mandatory one-day off per week during the season and there should be a one-week mid-season break with no club or national team travel, training or media commitments. FIFPRO are also calling for specific workload safeguards for academy players under the age of 18. More than 75% agreement was required amongst participants to establish each recommendation. While some safeguards exist under the collective bargaining agreements of some countries, international football lacks standardized regulations, FIFPRO said. The study's Delphi methodological approach was an electronic survey conducted from February to March 2025, involving experts working in the performance or medical team in men's professional football. Seventy-three percent of the experts are employed by football clubs, with 27% working for national teams. "If we can all agree that health comes first, then we should take steps to implement these safeguards," said FIFPRO's Medical Director Vincent Gouttebarge. In October, FIFPRO, the European leagues' group and Spain's LaLiga filed a joint complaint to European Union antitrust regulators, accusing soccer's global governing body FIFA of "abuse," concerned about the impact of the expanding football calendar on player wellbeing. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
37 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Fully artificial pitches to be banned in Asian Football Confederation competitions from August
Lion City Sailors striker Lennart Thy scores in a 2-0 win over Sydney FC at Jalan Besar Stadium in April. Artificial surfaces such as this will not be allowed in Asian Football Confederation competitions from next season. ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY SINGAPORE – Singapore Premier League (SPL) champions Lion City Sailors and runners-up BG Tampines Rovers will lose their unique home-ground advantage of playing continental matches on the Jalan Besar Stadium astroturf, after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) banned the use of fully artificial pitches in major national team and club competitions under its sanctioning from August. In a June 11 memo to AFC member associations seen by The Straits Times, Asian football's governing body said the decision is in line with efforts to improve the quality of play, following feedback that the standard of pitches, in particular artificial ones, has varied over the past few seasons. Tampines coach Gavin Lee noted that, with the exception of a handful of clubs like Norwegian champions and Europa League semi-finalists Bodo/Glimt, most teams around the world play on natural grass. Lee, also national assistant coach, said: 'I'll be lying if I said the astroturf was not an advantage for Singapore teams when we host opponents at Jalan Besar. And I can understand why there are more artificial pitches in our region because maintenance is much easier in our climate. 'But it's understandable why the AFC is heading in this direction because globally, almost all the major tournaments are played on grass. The affected competitions are the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers, the Women's Asian Cup and Olympic qualifiers, AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League Two (ACL2) and the AFC Women's Champions League. After notifying its member associations of the ban on June 11, AFC sent letters the next day to those who are affected by the decision, asking them to nominate an alternative venue with natural grass or a hybrid surface for their home matches. These include Singapore, who have played some national team games at the 6,000-seater Jalan Besar Stadium, when the 55,000-capacity National Stadium is unavailable or deemed too big for requirements. The Jalan Besar Stadium also hosted the Sailors and Tampines' ACL2 matches last season, with both teams having also qualified for the group stage of the second-tier continental club competition next season. A Football Association of Singapore spokesman confirmed the official correspondence and said it is working with AFC and national agency Sport Singapore 'to ensure that there will not be any disruptions to AFC matches for the 2025-26 season'. ST has also reached out to AFC and SportSG for comment. Singapore striker Ikhsan Fandi welcomed the move to natural grass. He and midfielder Adam Swandi both sustained knee injuries in the 3-1 friendly win over the Maldives at Jalan Besar in December 2022, ruling them out of that year's Asean Championship. The 26-year-old came off worse as he ruptured his right patella tendon and was out for 11 months. Ikhsan, who has joined Ratchaburi FC on loan from fellow Thai League 1 side BG Pathum United, told ST: 'I've had an unfortunate injury on an artificial pitch, so I can relate to some of the concerns around them. I understand AFC's decision and trust that it's been made with the players' safety and the quality of the game in mind. 'That said, as players, our job is to adapt and give our best no matter the surface. At the end of the day, it's not our decision. We respect whatever regulations that are in place and focus on performing at the highest level wherever we play. ' Since the Jalan Besar Stadium was first fitted with an artificial pitch in 2005, other SPL venues, such as the Jurong East Stadium and Our Tampines Hub, have followed suit as the authorities feel that such surfaces are easier to maintain than grass pitches in Singapore's humid climate. Along the way, this has helped Singapore teams achieve some good results in international matches as visiting teams have often found it hard to deal with the pace, bounce and trajectory of the ball on the Jalan Besar pitch. During last season's ACL Two, the Sailors played six home games at Jalan Besar, winning four times, drawing once and losing once as they qualified for a historic final. Their opponents in the showpiece match, Emirati side Sharjah FC, complained that Jalan Besar was not worthy of the final. The match was then moved to Bishan Stadium, which was upgraded to a 10,000-seater venue in May, with Sharjah winning 2-1. The AFC is not the only football organisation to ban artificial pitches. Scottish Premiership clubs also voted in 2024 for a similar ban from 2026. Lee added: 'I don't think we can definitively say that playing on artificial pitches causes injuries because there is no conclusive evidence of causation. But from some players' feedback, it does impact them harder, and I believe those responses were taken into consideration. 'This is the decision the AFC has taken and we have to align and find the best solutions. It's not just about the game-day pitch, but also where we train at in the lead-up, and we will have to look at how we can breach the gap.' David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Poland manager Probierz resigns after Lewandowski row
Poland manager Michal Probierz resigned on Thursday following a row over his decision to replace the country's record goalscorer Robert Lewandowski as captain. Lewandowski, 36, said on Sunday he would no longer play for the national team with Probierz at the helm, and told a Polish news site on Monday he was hurt by the way the manager had told him he was being replaced with Piotr Zielinski. The Barcelona forward said he had received a short call from Probierz just as he was putting his children to bed, and that a statement about him losing the captaincy appeared soon after on the Polish Football Association (PZPN) website. "I have come to the conclusion that in the current situation the best decision for the good of the national team will be my resignation from the position of coach," Probierz said in a statement. "Performing this function was the fulfilment of my professional dreams and the greatest honour in my life." Probierz took over from Portuguese Fernando Santos as Poland manager in 2023, taking them to Euro 2024 where his side were the first team to be eliminated. His contract was due to expire at the end of the qualifying period for the 2026 World Cup. Poland are third in Group G of the 2026 qualifiers with six points from three matches, a point behind group leaders Finland. "The Polish Football Association would like to thank selector Michal Probierz very much for his cooperation and involvement in leading the national team, wishing him success in his further career," PZPN said. Lewandowski, who has scored 85 goals for his country in a record 158 appearances, missed Poland's 2-1 defeat by Finland in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday as well as their 2-0 win over Moldova in a friendly on Friday. The former Bayern Munich striker citied physical and mental exhaustion after a long season as the reason for his absence. Poland next visit the Netherlands in World Cup qualifiers on September 4. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
