Son Heung-min, what is the economic effect of playing in the 'K League'?
Son Heung-min, what is the economic effect of playing in the 'K League'?
Blog Article
"Will there be a chance to play in the K League before retirement?" (Reporter)
"Football doesn't know what will happen." (Son Heung-min)
For Tottenham legend Son Heung-min, the time for a decision is getting closer. This is because his contract will end in 2024-2025 season, the 10th year since he joined Tottenham in the summer of 2015. The club is unlikely to renew the contract on the premise of a long-term contract. Foreign media say that if the club invokes it, it will choose the option of extending the contract for one year, which takes effect automatically. Son Heung-min, the star player of Tottenham who has played "soul-changing" for 10 years on the world's best stage, has no choice but to be complicated, such as having to consider "separation."
Time flies, however. After playing in European leagues, Korean players retired or switched to other leagues. Park Ji-sung, the "heart" of Manchester United, moved to the Queens Park Rangers at the age of 31, and finished his career with Eindhoven. Lee left Tottenham Hotspur at the age of 31 in 2008 and played in Germany, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. The "Dribler" Lee Chung-yong and "Middle-Level Key Player" Ki Sung-yueng also played in the English Premier League before returning to the K-League after moving to other leagues at the age of 30-31.
It's hard to get the speed of your heyday
Son Heung-min has managed his body systematically under the guidance of his father Son Woong-jung. He has not sustained any serious injuries and is still physically challenged. However, it is not easy to maintain the speed during his prime in the Premier League, the world's best stage. His price tag has been decreasing. According to "Transfermarkt", Son signed a contract with Hamburg in the Bundesliga in 2009, and the transfer fee as of August 2010 was 150,000 euros. However, when he transferred to Tottenham via Leverkusen in 2015, he was valued at 25 million euros, and peaked at 90 million euros in December 2020 when he played an active role at Tottenham. As of the end of May 2024, his price has halved to 45 million euros.
Of course, even if Son's market value has fallen, his income will not decrease. However, age could be a problem in the negotiation process with the club. Tottenham manager Anji Postecoglou gave Son the captaincy after taking office in July 2023, but it is also true that he is changing the color to a younger team at the same time. In fact, Tottenham is the fourth lowest-ranking team in the Premier League, and is recruiting promising players in their 10s and 20s, including Yang Min-hyuk (18) of Korea, Mikey Moore (17) of the club's youth team, and Wilson O'Donbert (20) of the French national team. Major players Dejan Kulusevski (24) and Brennan Johnson (23) and front-line striker Dominic Solanke (27) are also much younger than Son.
However, it seems difficult for the club to release Son Heung-min as a free agent after the end of the season. One of the problems of Tottenham, which has shown ups and downs in its performance this season, is the lack of experienced players. If Son Heung-min is absent, the impact to his team will be even greater. For this reason, there are many "sledges" such as extending his one-year contract or signing a two-year contract with Son Heung-min.
In any case, Son should also prepare for his departure due to the Maginot Line amid uncertainties. Other options include a familiar English Premier League team, a German Bundesliga team that started its professional career for the first time, and a prestigious Spanish team that has a chance of winning the Champions League. Given Son's self-respect and image, analysts say he will likely move within Europe's big leagues. However, it is true that there is temptation to play in the Saudi Arabian League where high salaries are guaranteed. World-class players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, and Karim Benzema are already playing in the Saudi Arabian League.
From the perspective of domestic soccer fans, even if they play in Europe or the Middle East, they cannot give up their wish to play on the Korean K-League stage at the time of retirement.
What would happen if he returned to Korea and played in the K-League? None of the K-League teams can guarantee his salary. However, it is certain that he will create a boom in Korean professional soccer. In fact, the K-League felt the effect of Ki Sung-yueng, who returned to FC Seoul in 2020, and Ulsan HD successfully reconstructed its prestigious family by recruiting Lee Chung-yong. When Lee Seung-woo joined Suwon FC in 2022 and Baek Seung-ho joined Jeonbuk Hyundai FC in 2021, fans' interest increased, and Jesse Lingard, a Manchester United native, played a key role in FC Seoul's surpassing 500,000 spectators in 2024.
Son Heung-min is so powerful that he can hardly be compared with other players. "If he plays in the Korean pro league in his later years, it will be a catalyst for his success," commentator Kim Dae-gil said. "Even if he does not play full-time, just because he exists in the stadium will enable him to attract at least 10,000 spectators." Considering his return to the K-League as an increase in utility by 10,000 won per person, his derived value in Korea would be 10,000 won x 50 million people = 500 billion won.
Should I make a U-turn to the K-League
Superstar Son Heung-min does not completely rule out the possibility of making a U-turn in the K-League. At a press conference on a friendly match between Tottenham and its team K-League held in Seoul in July 2024, Son was asked by a Korean reporter whether he would have a chance to play in the K-League before his retirement. "It's hard to say right now whether he will have a chance to play in the K-League in the future. We don't know what will happen in soccer," Son said. "Since I'm living in the U.K., I can't watch K-League live due to time difference. Still, I have a lot of close colleagues who are playing, so I try to watch K-League games whether they are live or highlighted whenever I have a chance." 토토사이트
Son Heung-min is the top scorer in the English Premier League in 2022 and also received the FIFA Puskas Award in 2020. A frequent player of the year with the Korea Football Association, Son is on the verge of breaking Cha Bum-keun's record of scoring the most goals scored in a national team A match (58).