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Spurs captain Son says he is leaving the club

Spurs captain Son says he is leaving the club

Straits Times3 days ago
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FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Europa League - Final - Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - San Mames, Bilbao, Spain - May 21, 2025 Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge/File Photo
Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min will bring his 10-year spell with the Premier League club to an end this summer, the 33-year-old South Korean said on Saturday.
Son, who is under contract until 2026, led Spurs to their first trophy in 17 years with their win over Manchester United in the Europa League final in May, having joined the North London club from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015.
While Son did not disclose his next destination, British media have linked him with a move to Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC.
"I have decided to leave the team this summer," Son said at a press conference ahead of Spurs' pre-season friendly against Newcastle United in Seoul on Sunday.
"I think it was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made in my football career. Playing football and being with one team for 10 years is something I am very proud of, but I think I gave my all to the team every single day.
"I did my best on the field and off the field, and by winning the Europa League, I thought I'd done everything I could and achieved. That was probably the biggest reason (why I decided to leave the team)."
Son has made 454 appearances for Spurs and scored 173 goals. He won the Premier League Golden Boot in the 2021-22 season.
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"I was so grateful that the team helped me a lot with this decision and respected my choice," he added.
"It was my favourite place for 10 years, and it was the place where I grew a lot as a football player and a person, so I have a very grateful heart." REUTERS
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