Son is setting at Tottenham- Korean attacker should be sold in January
Tottenham are losing patience with Son Heung-Min
It’s pretty obvious that Mauricio Pochettino is starting to rethink Son Heung-Min’s position within the Tottenham squad. The Korean has been struggling mightily as of late, and Spurs could offload him in January to the highest bidder.
Regular readers know that I’m not the biggest fan of the talented attacking midfielder. On his day, he can be an incredibly bright player capable of real skill. Unfortunately, his day doesn’t come along nearly often enough to justify a place in the Tottenham starting XI.
His play early this year gave the club an opportunity to really fall in love with his play. In the absence of Harry Kane his offensive play was nothing short of breathtaking. He was so good that I began to question my own opinion of his play.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to build on his hot start. He’s only managed to post a Whoscored.com player rating over 7.0 in one match during the past two months. That match, predictably, was Spurs’ 5-0 win over Swansea which featured a beautiful scissor kick finish from the former Leverkusen star. Unfortunately for Son, there are even more troubling signs that he might be falling out of favor with his manager.
Pochettino has developed a nasty habit of making Son the first substitute in the club’s latest matches. He hasn’t logged over 71 minutes in a match since the North London Derby. Perhaps most disturbing was the fact that he was hauled off after just 57 minutes yesterday at Old Trafford.
It’s pretty easy to see a strong trend developing here. Pochettino isn’t a manager who is afraid to sour on a big name signing. Throughout his time at Spurs, he’s always had one high-profile player that took up residence in his doghouse. Son is clearly heading in that direction.
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The reality is Pochettino also has several other options he could choose in Son’s place. Moussa Sissoko may be maddeningly inconsistent, but his ceiling is certainly one of the highest on the squad. Young Georges-Kevin N’Koudou seems to be trending in the opposite direction as Son as of late. The Frenchman is clearly growing into his role at Spurs and Pochettino is rewarding him with more and more playing time.
There’s also the possibility that Tottenham could opt to purchase another attacking midfielder in January. In my estimation, it’s the most likely purchase Spurs could make in the winter window. If Pochettino does pull the trigger on a high-profile purchase, he’ll likely need to balance the purchase out with a big-name sale as well.
Son Heung-Min could easily become Tottenham’s biggest January casualty. The Korean needs to step up his game or else risk being shipped away from White Hart Lane in the winter transfer window.