It has been reported once again that Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League will exercise the option of a one-year extension of their current contract with Son Heung-min, the team's captain and flagship striker.
Son's contract with Tottenham ends in June next year. Various observations have been made regarding the option of one-year extension that Tottenham can unilaterally exercise and signing a new multi-year contract with Son, but Tottenham is poised to use Son for another year at its current annual salary.
However, some observers say that the activation of a one-year extension option is the minimum safety device against losing him to a free contract (FA) next year.
Tottenham and Son Heung-min's struggle will become more intense in the future. Some point out that in 2021, Chelsea extended the contract of French national team Olivier Giroud, a key striker at the time, by one year just before the end of the contract, and then sold it to AC Milan for a transfer fee.
Analysts say Tottenham may be imitating Chelsea's Bored Case.
The British daily Telegraph reported on the 4th (Korea time) that "Tottenham will soon invoke the option to extend Son Heung-min's one-year contract," adding, "Tottenham signed the last contract with Son Heung-min in July 2021, and the club reportedly has the option to extend the contract for another year."
He then emphasized that this option will be activated with unilateral notification from the Tottenham club.
"All Tottenham have to do is let Son know that they are exercising the option to extend their contract," the Telegraph newspaper said. "Both Tottenham and Son agree on invoking the option," adding, "If the option is exercised, Son will be with Tottenham for more than 10 years. The recruitment of Son is considered the best achievement in the history of the Tottenham transfer market."
Son Heung-min signed a five-year contract with Tottenham in August 2015 for a transfer fee of 22 million pounds (about 39.3 billion won) from Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga. Since then, he has rewritten the contract twice more, and signed a new five-year contract through renewal in July 2018. In July 2021, he signed a new four-year contract for an annual salary of 18 billion won (estimated).
However, it was revealed last year that Son Heung-min's expiration date in the current contract was not June 30, 2025, but June 30, 2026, according to Tottenham's will.
Since June, the British media has been saying that Tottenham will activate a one-year extension option rather than renewing the contract. Since Son Heung-min, born in 1992, is 32 years old, why don't Tottenham watch him for another year rather than signing a new multi-year contract.
Earlier, England's "The Sun" and "The Guardian" also delivered Tottenham's option exercise in August.
At the time, Tom Barclay, a Tottenham reporter for "The Sun," said on SNS, "Tottenham is reportedly planning to activate their one-year extension option to hand over Son Heung-min's contract to the summer of 2026."
The British 'Guardian' also said, "Son Heung-min looked back on the contract situation after entering the last 12 months of his current contract at Tottenham," adding, "Tottenham reportedly has the option to extend Son's contract period by one more year and plans to activate it."
The "Football Fancast" took a rather stark look at Son's current situation. "Son Heung-min is the best source of income for Tottenham," the media said, before adding, "We will be agonizing over whether to extend or end the contract. Tottenham already has several players in their early 20s as an alternative to Son Heung-min."
This time, the Telegraph once again confirmed Tottenham's option activation.
However, there is a wide range of interpretations as to whether Tottenham exercises its options to use Son Heung-min until June 2026 or with other intentions.
When his contract period ends next year, he will be able to search for a new team without paying a transfer fee. Some might wonder who would make a suggestion to a player who will turn 33 in June next year, but due to the extended life of a player in recent years, there are many cases where older players get better offers.
Roberto Lewandowski, a world-class striker who left Bayern Munich at the age of 34 in 2022 and has scored a lot of goals so far, and Giroud, a former French national team player who moved from Chelsea to AC Milan in 2021 and entered his prime once more in his mid-30s, are examples.
Son Heung-min has been struggling with a hamstring injury, but he has managed his legs so well that he has never sustained a serious injury to his legs, which soccer players use as a life, while playing for Tottenham for more than 10 years. He has also shown proficiency in the role of a playmaker who pokes a pass in the second line recently, and he could play for a big club for another year or two.
As a result, Tottenham seems to have decided to extend the current contract period with Son by one more year and use him until 2026, or sell him for a transfer fee next year. Son is the best tool for marketing in Asia including Korea.
Analysts say Tottenham may be thinking of avoiding missing Son Heung-min, who is showing off his huge popularity, for free next summer.
In some cases, Tottenham may even collect a large transfer fee by sending Son Heung-min away. This is because Son Heung-min has been receiving love calls from Saudi Arabian clubs since last year.
Son has already been offered a total of 160 million euros over the past four years at Al-Itihad, where Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema is active, and 240 billion won (230 million U.S. dollars) in total. Other Saudi teams, including Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli, are keeping alive the possibility. For Tottenham, if Son makes up his mind, they can sell the 33-year-old player for tens of billions of won next summer. It is a complete profit-taking event.
There are already cases similar to Son Heung-min. That was the case with Giroud, who was playing for Chelsea in 2021. Chelsea had an option to extend the contract with Giroud by one year at the time. Although his contract was about to end on June 30, 2021, he exercised the option of extending Giroud's contract on June 5, 2021, 25 days before the end of his contract, after confirming that AC Milan were interested in him. Giroud also received a flurry of reports a few months before the official announcement, but Chelsea waited until the end to make it official in June.
Chelsea did not intend to use Giroud for another year. Chelsea handed over the option to AC Milan for a transfer fee of 2 million euros. Chelsea fans welcomed Giroud's one-year contract extension, but when Chelsea sold it to AC Milan, they criticized him for having to do this even though it is not a large sum of money.
Tottenham can be like that, too. If Son, who is currently suffering from an injury, recovers his normal condition, Tottenham can keep him for one more year or sell him when a team appears to offer him a fee. If Son's skills are recognized as declining, he can break up in June next year. Chelsea also activated a one-year extension option in June after observing whether Giroud was an "aging curve" to the end.
On the other hand, it is a bittersweet news. Having played for Tottenham for the past 10 years, Son has become a star player not only in Korea but also in Asia and the world, and Tottenham also utilized him to the fullest extent possible for marketing purposes, thereby boosting the club's profitability as well as its status. Once a London-based 1.5th-rate club, Tottenham has become a popular club that fiercely chases down Arsenal and Chelsea with two stars including Son Heung-min and Harry Kane, who moved to Bayern Munich, Germany last summer.
Considering Son Heung-min's dedication, and the anecdote of rejecting the Saudi team's proposal, there is no problem if he willingly re-signs the contract, but Tottenham seems to be bouncing around the abacus until the end. At least, he is not a somewhat unfavorable player who excels in soccer but has no marketing effect like Giroud.
Until June, Son Heung-min did not hide his loyalty to Tottenham, saying, "I want to leave something for this club."
However, it has changed somewhat this season. When asked at the Tottenham fan forum last September if he would retire from Tottenham, he said, "I have already answered. We do not know our future in football. I still have a contract with Tottenham, and it has been 10 years since I played here. You cannot imagine how happy I would be at Tottenham. But our future in football is unknown, I am just focusing on this season. All I want is a win." 먹튀검증
"Even if I leave this club someday, I want to see you all smile, and I want to see everyone talk about me as a legend," he said, adding that he hopes Tottenham fans will remember him as a legend of the team, even if he leaves Tottenham in any way. He left an answer that can be interpreted in various ways.