Tottenham: £22m star now 'strangely similar to Harry Kane' at Hotspur Way

GiveMeSport

·26 September 2023

Tottenham: £22m star now 'strangely similar to Harry Kane' at Hotspur Way

Highlights

Heung-min Son has been a key player for Tottenham since Harry Kane's departure, impressing with his form and leadership as captain.
Tottenham's strong start to the season can be attributed in part to Son's performances, with the team sitting in fourth place.
Son's versatility as a striker and winger gives the manager options, but currently, he is the preferred choice as Tottenham's number nine.

Tottenham Hotspur star Heung-min Son has stepped up to the plate upon Harry Kane’s departure and journalist Paul Brown has made a beaming comparison between the pair, while speaking to GIVEMESPORT.

Under Ange Postecoglou’s watchful eye, the north London-based outfit look like an entirely different entity and much of this can be attributed to the forward.

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Not every fan though that would be the case, however. Losing someone of Kane’s ilk was always going to be difficult to replace, but Postecoglou called on one of the senior squad members to take over captaincy duties: Son. The 111-cap South Korea international has been on fine form since the 2023/24 campaign got underway and has been a big part of Spurs – albeit brief - period of success.

Tottenham have failed to lose a domestic outing in the new season and only dropped points against Brentford on the opening weekend and then against Arsenal in the most recent fixture. Sitting in fourth spot on 14 points would have seemed impossible at the start of the season, but their lovable Australian chief just keeps on building a formidable outfit.

In terms of Son, who cost the club just £22m back in the summer of 2015, he picked up a hat-trick in their away fixture at Burnley as Tottenham ran out 5–2 victors. Most recently, the winger-turned-striker netted twice in a fierce North London Derby against Arsenal and was given a match-high rating of 8.6 by SofaScore.

Over the course of the summer, the Tottenham higher-ups decided to splash the cash on former Nottingham Forest forward Brennan Johnson. The 22-year-old Welshman became the club’s ninth summer signing and cost north of £45m, per BBC Sport. Since his arrival, however, he has been restricted to 73 minutes of domestic football and even came off injured in the cross-London derby.

Heung-min Son is being successful in fending off other centre-forward options - Paul Brown

Brown suggested that, as things stand, Son is the capital club’s prime option to play through the middle. Even to the extent where he suggested that his performance against Arsenal reminded him of Kane, though he did suggest that against weaker full-backs, Postecoglou may resort to putting him wide and bringing in someone such as Richarlison to fill the void at centre-forward instead. Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the journalist said…

“Heung-min Son is Tottenham’s best option at centre-forward. Some of his movement was a bit reminiscent of Harry Kane in a strange way in the derby. There are a couple of times when he dropped into midfield to collect from deep and was playing in runners behind them, that was very Harry Kane. His pace, obviously also a big asset. He looks a threat in front of goal every time he plays, and he’s become a real leader there since taking on the captain’s armband, so you would expect him to continue. There may be some games I think where the manager feels maybe his pace and movement can be better used in a wider area if he wants to target an opposition full back, then you might see Richarlison come back into the team, but I do think that, at the moment, Son does look like Tottenham’s first choice number nine.”

Does Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham have the tools to dismantle Liverpool?

For Spurs this season, the beauty of having no European football to disrupt their flow means they can be laser-focused on climbing up the Premier League, especially as Fulham have already knocked them out of the League Cup. Next on their Premier League calendar is the small matter of dealing with Liverpool, who are sat healthily in second place behind Manchester City.

On the back of their 2-2 draw with Arsenal, Postecoglou and his entourage will be hopeful of getting some sort of result against Jurgen Klopp’s high-flyers. The Londoner’s midfield has looked particularly strong in the early embers of 2023/24 and with Liverpool centre of the park still slightly disjointed with players attempting to gel further, the battle could be won in the middle.

If Son and Maddison – should his injury concerns be cleared - also up the ante against another imperious opposition, there is no reason why Postecoglou and his side can’t leave their stomping ground with the heads held high. The Englishman was withdrawn from play on the 78th minute and reports have suggested he will undergo a scan before Postecoglou makes an informed decision for his availability against the Merseysiders.