Heung-Min Son
Born: 08 July 1992 (Chuncheon, South Korea)
Heung-Min Son
Player Season Stats
South Korean international superstar Heung-Min Son has endeared himself to the Spurs faithful with some fantastic goalscoring displays since signing from Bayer Leverkusen in August, 2015 - and in August of 2023 he was appointed Club captain.
Now up to fifth in our all-time goalscoring list on 160 goals in 399 matches for us in all competitions - as of 31 March, 2024 - Sonny had another moment to savour in 2022/23 when he struck a beauty against Brighton in April - his 100th Premier League goal - the first Asian player to achieve that feat.
Scorer of the first Premier League and Champions League goals at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, winner of the 2019/20 FIFA Puskas Award for his wonder goal against Burnley in December, 2019, Sonny added the Premier League's Golden Boot to his long list of achievements with 23 goals in 2021/22, sharing the trophy with Liverpool's Mo Salah.
However, by his own high standards, and by his own admission, 2022/23 proved tougher for Sonny. He still reached double-figures in the Premier League in his 14 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions, but struggled for form, particularly at the start of the season. Indeed, it took until 17 September for him to register - but, typically, when he did it, he did it in style with a hat-trick off the bench in the 6-2 win against Leicester City. His 47 appearances included 44 starts.
Born in Chuncheon, Son originally moved to Germany as a teenager and came through the ranks at Hamburger SV, scoring on his Bundesliga debut in October, 2010, against 1. FC Köln. A consistent goalscorer throughout his time in Germany, he went on to make 78 appearances and score 20 times for Hamburg before joining Bayer Leverkusen in June, 2013. He helped them to Champions League qualification in each of his two seasons there and made a total of 87 appearances, scoring 29 times at BayArena.
After making his debut for us away at Sunderland in September, 2015, he scored twice on his home debut in a 3-1 Europa League victory over Qarabag, before netting the only goal of the game as we beat Palace 1-0 at White Hart Lane in the Premier League three days later. A foot injury sidelined him for a spell and he finished the 2015/16 campaign having scored eight goals in 40 appearances for us, with one of his highlights proving to be his last-gasp winner at Watford in late December, 2015.
In 2016/17, Son rattled in two cracking strikes in our 4-0 win at Stoke City in September, 2016, while also netting both our goals in a 2-1 win at Middlesbrough later that month on his way to picking up the first of two EA SPORTS Player of the Month awards during that campaign. The second came in April, 2017, after he scored five goals in four games at the start of that month. He also completed his first Spurs hat-trick in March, 2017, during our 6-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Millwall. Playing regularly in the side, Sonny ended the campaign with 21 goals from 47 appearances.
His winning goal in a 1-0 home victory against Crystal Palace in November, 2017, saw him become the highest-scoring Asian player in Premier League history, taking his overall tally in the division to 20 at the time. He scored some decisive goals during the following few weeks, including a run of four in as many games in December, 2017, picked up the Asian Football Confederation International Player of the Year award for a second time - having first won it in 2015 - and was named Top South Korean Male Footballer of 2017 at the Korea Football Association awards. Featuring in all but one of our 38 Premier League games in 2017/18, he finished that campaign with 18 goals in 53 appearances - more games than any other player in the squad.
The 2018/19 campaign saw Sonny hit the 20-goal mark for the second time in three seasons, despite missing game time through two separate spells of international duty with South Korea. He really kick-started his season with a wonderful solo goal in the 3-1 home win over Chelsea in November, 2018, voted the Premier League's EA SPORTS Goal of the Month and, later, our Goal of the Season.
He then wrote his name into club history by scoring the first ever first team goal at our new stadium when he opened the scoring in our 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on 3 April, 2019, and, six nights later, bagged the first European goal at our new home in the 1-0 Champions League quarter-final, first leg win over Manchester City - one of three goals he scored overall in that epic tie on our journey that eventually led to the showpiece final in Madrid. In January, 2019, he was named Best Footballer in Asia for the fourth time, having previously won the award in 2014, 2015 and 2018, and, the following month, collected the Premier League Player of the Year prize at the London Football Awards. He ended the season with 48 appearances to his name in all competitions and, in addition to our Goal of the Season award, swept the board by collecting the One Hotspur Player of the Season, One Hotspur Junior Player of the Season and our Official Supporters’ Clubs’ Player of the Season awards.
Sonny stepped up again in 2019/20. This highlight was an incredible solo effort as he ran the length of the pitch to score against Burnley. The stunning effort went on to win the FIFA Puskas Award in December, 2020, as well as the 2019/20 Match of the Day and Premier League's Goal of the Season. Sonny made 41 appearances in all competitions, scoring 18 goals. He was shortlisted for both the FIFPRO XI and the Ballon d'OR. In an eventful campaign, Sonny also fractured his arm at Villa in February and completed his military service back in South Korea in April, 2020.
The 2020/21 campaign was another memorable one for Sonny. He topped the 20-goal mark again with 22 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions - his best seasonal return so far. That included 17 in 37 appearances in the Premier League as he and Harry Kane put together a league record 14 goal combinations for a single season. Sonny scored four goals at Southampton in September, was named the Premier League's EA SPORTS Player of the Month for October, reached 100 goals for Spurs - only the 18th Spur to do so - and claimed his sixth 'Best Footballer in Asia' award in January. He joined Harry in the PFA's Premier League Team of the Season in June.
The 2021/22 season began with great news as Sonny signed a new deal, extending his time at the Club until 2025. Sonny also started as he planned to continue on the field with the winner in our Premier League opener against Manchester City. During the course of the 2021/22 campaign, Sonny became only the ninth player to reach 50 European appearances for us, passed 200 appearances in the Premier League, passed 300 games in all competitions for the Club, won the Premier League's EA SPORTS Player of the Month award for October, broke the Premier League goal combinations record with Harry Kane (37), won the Club's August, February, March and April Goal of the Month awards, broke into the Club's all-time top goalscorers list, won One Hotspur Player of the Season, One Hotspur Juniors' Player of the Season and Official Supporters’ Clubs’ Player of the Season and then scored twice in the second half in our final match at Norwich to help us clinch fourth place, a return to the UEFA Champions League and the Golden Boot (23 goals) - he even met Spider-Man! In total, Sonny featured in 45 of our 53 matches in all competitions, scored 24 goals and at the end of 2021/22, stood at 325 appearances in all competitions, and 131 goals.
Sonny is also a regular at international level and scored for South Korea against Algeria at the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals. He also helped his nation qualify for the 2018 tournament, where he scored twice in the finals in Russia, and latterly played at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. In August and early September, 2018, Sonny captained South Korea to victory at the Asian Games in Indonesia. At the end of 2022/23, Sonny had 111 caps to his name.
