But with his goal of winning silverware with Spurs complete, Son told new boss Thomas Frank of his desire to depart the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to share information that I have decided to leave this club this summer. Respectfully the club is helping me with this decision,\u201d Son during his press conference.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753528389_190_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the most difficult decision I have made in my career. The main reason is I have achieved everything I can at Tottenham. I need a new environment for a fresh challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to north London as a kid. A boy came to London who couldn\u2019t speak English. I leave this club as a man. Thanks to all the Spurs fans who have given me so much love.\u201d<\/p>\n
BILBAO, SPAIN – MAY 21: Son Heung-Min of Tottenham Hotspur lifts the UEFA Europa League trophy after his team’s victory in the UEFA Europa League Final 2025 between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at Estadio de San Mames on May 21, 2025 in Bilbao, Spain. (Photo by Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Son added: \u201cI spoke with only a few guys, ones I\u2019ve spent a long time with. They\u2019re disappointed but in a respectful way. <\/p>\n
\u201cObviously I\u2019m very close to Ben (Davies) and we\u2019ve spoken a few times about the future. Obviously they respect my decision. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very hard to tell my teammates because I probably spend more time with them than my family because we\u2019re together five or six hours every day. They were disappointed but also happy for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cIt\u2019s been quite a while since I made my decision to leave the club. Recent days have been difficult. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was difficult to stay bright on the outside but I did my best not to harm the club or his teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second game of Tottenham\u2019s Asian tour will kick off in Seoul on Sunday after Pape Matar Sarr\u2019s screamer from near the halfway line handed them a 1-0 victory in Hong Kong against fierce rivals Arsenal in the first north London derby played outside of the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
Son came off the bench to play 15 minutes against Arsenal on Thursday with Cristian Romero handing over the captain\u2019s armband despite some reluctance from the Korean.<\/p>\n
That gesture meant he got to lift another trophy, although the pre-season Herbalgy Trophy does not hold the same significance as the Europa League trophy.<\/p>\n
Former Brentford boss Frank dismissed any concerns that Son will not be sighted on Sunday given the announcement.<\/p>\n
The Danish manager made it clear to fans that their hero will walk out wearing the captain\u2019s armband against Newcastle in front of a sell-out crowd at the 66,000 seat Seoul World Cup Stadium for what might by his final appearance in a Spurs shirt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very clear that Sonny will start and lead the team out as captain,\u201d Frank said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it is the last game for Sonny, what a place to do it here in front of his home fans. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be a beautiful ending.\u201d<\/p>\n
Son is set to join former Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris in Los Angeles, in what is a big coup for the MLS as the city contains the largest Korean population in the United States.<\/p>\n
He had attracted strong interest from clubs in Saudi Arabia, but is set to forgo those offers in favour of joining Lionel Messi in adding star power to the American league.<\/p>\n
Son will depart Spurs having scored 173 goals and registering 101 assists in 454 appearances, and during his time in England, he became the first Asian player to score 100 goals in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
He will no doubt go down as a club legend, which he reluctantly said so himself when asked about his standing in Tottenham history after lifting the Europa League trophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s say I\u2019m a legend. Why not? Only today! 17 years nobody has done it, so today let\u2019s say with amazing players probably a legend of the club,\u201d he said after the final. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what I\u2019ve always dreamed for. Today is the day it happened. I am the happiest man in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tottenham captain Heung-min Son has announced his desire to leave the English Premier League club in a press…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[12033,2095,1531,1724,64,63,22706,34683,34846,485,512,9239,1208,6254,2057,6246,34691,2105,29475,34847,34850,34848,2022,481,6255,12002,2041,2067,3583,1614,668,34845,5813,3595,2020,85,2639,3586,2614,34849],"class_list":["post-39071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-alexander-isak","tag-america","tag-ange-postecoglou","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bayern-munich","tag-bid-rejectedfootball","tag-bilbao","tag-california","tag-china","tag-eastern-asia","tag-england","tag-europa-league","tag-europe","tag-football-news","tag-football-transfer-news","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-harry-kane","tag-heung-min","tag-hugo-lloris","tag-justin-setterfield","tag-london","tag-los-angeles","tag-manchester-united-football-club","tag-newcastle-united-football-club","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-northern-europe","tag-premier-league","tag-press-conference","tag-province-of-biscay","tag-south-korea","tag-southern-europe","tag-spain","tag-sports","tag-thomas-h-frank","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-yu-chun-christopher-wong"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}