Son Heung-min has officially joined Los Angeles FC in a record-breaking move, ending his illustrious 10-year stint at Tottenham Hotspur. The South Korean star admitted LAFC wasn't his initial preference.
At his unveiling in Los Angeles, Son opened up about thow the MLS club was not the first choice detination after leaving Spurs. He said, “They’ve been absolutely working so hard to get me here to join LAFC. If I’m honest it was not my first choice but John (Thorrington, LAFC general manager) was the first call when the season finished and John changed my mind, he changed my heart."
“I’m so happy to see all the Korean fans, I was at the game and I saw you supporting like crazy and I wanted to run on the pitch and show my performance. I’m here to win and I will perform.
“I will definitely show you something exciting in… are we calling it football or soccer? I will definitely show you some exciting football and we will have success.”
Son's heartfelt message on leaving Spurs
During the press conference, Son admitted that leaving Spurs had left a deep emotional impact. He said, “I felt like I gave it all, but I felt like I needed a new chapter and new challenge and I chose LAFC. I’m old but I still have good physicality, good legs and I still have good quality.”
Earlier, Son shared a heartfelt farewell message with Tottenham supporters, calling his departure the “hardest decision ever.”
“How to find the right words for this? I don’t know. I have been thinking for days. It’s impossible. But here I go,” he wrote.
“It’s time for me to say goodbye to Tottenham Hotspur. My home for the past decade. When I arrived in 2015, I didn’t speak English, I didn’t know London, but you welcomed me with open arms, believed in me, and stood by me through every high and low.
“I was just a boy from Korea with big dreams who was supposed to have no chance. And now, 10 years later, North London is in my heart forever.
“I’ve made friends for life here, had the honour of becoming a godfather here, and had the privilege of captaining our special club here. I’ve poured my heart and soul into this club, which makes this the hardest decision ever.
“I thought if I was ever going to leave, it would have to be on my terms, on the best terms, when our mission had been accomplished together. With pride and honour.”
Son's Tottenham journey
Son joined Tottenham in 2015 from Bayer Leverkusen and quickly became one of the Premier League’s standout attackers. Alongside Harry Kane, he formed a record-breaking partnership the duo assisted each other 47 times, the most by any pair in Premier League history.
Under Mauricio Pochettino, Son helped transform Spurs into title challengers, playing a key role in their second-place league finish in 2017 and their run to the Champions League final in 2019.
Following Kane’s departure to Bayern Munich, Son was handed the captaincy by manager Ange Postecoglou and capped off his Spurs career by lifting the Europa League trophy in May. Despite an injury-hit campaign, he came off the bench in the final to help secure a 1-0 win over Manchester United.
