ESPN Review: Son Heung-min! The greatest Asian player ever!

The greatest Asian player ever.

Whenever this "GOAT" (the strongest in history) topic is raised, it always leads to controversy and disagreement.

This is completely subjective judgment, and it varies from person to person - some people value team honors more, while others value personal awards more.

Nevertheless, Son Heung-min undoubtedly has strong reasons to be called the greatest player in Asian football history.

At least, he is one of the most competitive candidates.

And his legend in the hearts of Tottenham fans in Asia and Tottenham is about to open a new chapter in the United States.

After a touching farewell to Tottenham, Son Heung-min's next stop was officially announced on Wednesday: he officially joined Los Angeles FC. According to ESPN sources, this is a transaction that sets a record MLS (Major League of Professional Football) transfer fee, with a total amount of $26 million.

Even if you look at the world, the captain of the South Korean national team, Son Heung-min, is a veritable first-line superstar.

For the past decade, he has been playing for one of the most famous clubs in England and Europe - although it was not until this spring that he finally won his first club honor: the UEFA Cup.

If the Premier League is the most competitive domestic league in the world, then Son Heung-min's Golden Boot in the 2021-22 season (joining Salah and winning the championship with 23 goals) undoubtedly makes him among the world-class stars.

In addition to his first and last seasons, he scored double-digit Premier League goals in every season at Tottenham. It must be noted that he was a winger rather than a forward in many seasons, and he was not at the core of the offensive until Kane transferred to Bayern.

Stability is one of his strengths, but perhaps what really makes him an idol in the hearts of fans is his persistence in "wonderfulness".

His prize cabinet is filled with "Best Goal Awards for the Season". Those long-range world waves and wonderful single riding passes are still memorable.

One of the goals even won the 2020 FIFA Puskash Award (the best goal in the world) - it was an amazing 70-yard run, starting from outside the penalty area, throwing the entire Burnley team all the way, and finally calmly scored.

These classic moments are what Los Angeles FC and MLS hope that Son Heung-min can bring to the United States.

Sun's talent is unquestionable.

But what really made him the current player was perhaps the behind-the-scenes efforts that were rarely known to the outside world.

He once revealed that his father (also a former player) let him throw the ball for four hours when he was a child. Although this training method is not common, it has indeed tempered Sun's skills and ball-control ability, and has also helped him develop concentration and persistence in football since childhood.

His friend, Tolgay Arslan, a teammate in Hamburg youth training, firmly believed that Sun did not get to where he is today based on his talent.

"You can see that 'Sunny' is talented. He is very talented - but there are also many talented players in Europe." Arslan said in an interview with ESPN last October.

"His father gave him a lot. The hard training he had with his father took him to another level. In my opinion, this is why he might be the strongest Asian player ever."

"This is not only talent, but also the result of extremely hard work."

Son Heung-min made his debut for Hamburg at the age of 18, then transferred to Leverkusen before entering the Premier League

The reason why his parents allowed him to drop out of high school in Seoul at the age of 16 and head to the Hamburg youth training camp was largely because they believed that Son had the potential to become a professional player.

By the age of 18, Sun was enough to play in professional competitions.

He was quickly compared to his predecessor, Che Fangen, a pioneer who helped Frankfurt and Leverkusen win two UEFA Cups (the predecessor of the UEFA Cup) in the 1980s.

Sun later followed the footsteps of the car and joined Leverkusen in 2013. Two years later, he transferred to Tottenham, and everyone knows the story that follows.

The Premier League is not always friendly to new foreign players. It was a challenging league.

Sun joined Tottenham Hotspur three summers, another talented Asian player also won the opportunity to go to the Premier League for his wonderful performance in the Bundesliga.

Shinji Kagawa joined Manchester United. At that time, he had just helped Dortmund achieve two consecutive Bundesliga titles under Klopp's coach, and his popularity with joining Manchester United was even higher than Sun. But although he won the Premier League championship in his last year of coaching at Ferguson, he has never gained a foothold and left the team before Sun joined Tottenham.

Many Asian players, such as Dong Fangzhuo and Junichi Inamoto, are regarded as pure commercial operations. There are also players who struggle silently like Shinji Okazaki. Although they play for a team of average strength, Okazaki did win the legendary Premier League championship with Leicester City.

For example, Eizusa Nakada, he was the only Asian star with global influence before Sun, but when he switched to Bolton, his competitive state and enthusiasm for the game were no longer as good as before.

Son Heung-min finally won the coveted trophy for Tottenham in the Europa League final last season.

Son Heung-min finally won the trophy he had dreamed for Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final last season. His Premier League journey was not smooth at first, scoring only 4 goals in the first season.

But with the perseverance and professional spirit he showed on the court now, he gritted his teeth and persevered.

In his second season, he scored 14 goals in the league and scored a total of 21 goals in various competitions. Since then, he has never looked back.

So, who is the real number one person in Asian football history? Is it the player who just moved to MLS?

If you only look at team honors, Park Ji-sung may be the hottest candidate—Sun himself has called him a role model many times.

Park won 4 Premier League championships, 3 League Cups and 1 Champions League trophy during his years at Manchester United. There may even be two Champions League trophys. Ferguson once said that in the 2011 Champions League final against Barcelona, it was a mistake to not let Park Ji-sung mark Messi in the midfield - the first half of that game was 1-1.

Park Ji-sung and Son Heung-min, each of them has enough reasons to be called the best players in Asia.

Park Ji-sung and Son Heung-min are both enough to be called the greatest Asian player of all time

Hyesu Nakada's career has not been long, but his strength at his peak is undoubtedly. With 6 rounds left in Serie A in 2000-01, he made a substitute in a key battle between Roma and Juventus, leading two goals to help the team tie the score. That game was regarded as the biggest test on Rome's road to winning the championship, and his performance was indelible.

Perhaps less well-known is Ali Dei of Iran. The striker, who once played for Bayern, set a world record with 108 national team goals and was not broken by Ronaldo until 2021.

There are also pioneers like Che Fangen. He has made 308 appearances in the Bundesliga, maintaining the Asian foreign player appearance record for 30 years.

But no one of these players can really say that they are one of the best in the world at some point. Son Heung-min may be able to do it.

However, perhaps this "best player in Asian history" debate does not require a clear answer.

Among the many outstanding Asian players, it is certain that Son Heung-min is a true legend.

And this shining legend will also enter MLS with him landing in Los Angeles FC.