Son Heung-Min: Is he worth it?

Son Heung-Min is hard-working, ambitious and persistent on the pitch and always calm and courteous off it. But as he leaves Germany in a big money move to the Premier League, he now has to prove he’s worth it.

When the news broke that Son was leaving for Spurs he stepped out of character to put the boot in against Hakan Calhanoglu, his former teammate who had followed him from Hamburg to Leverkusen.

After Leverkusen had impressively won their Champions League qualifier on Wednesday night against Lazio, the gossip around Son’s transfer was still topic number one. And Calhanoglu, who had outraged the Hamburg fans himself by moving a year ago, claimed the South Korean player was “obviously not well-advised” in planning to leave Leverkusen.

“People who sit in the greenhouse shouldn’t throw stones”, can Son’s retort, before leaving for England.

Son might have taken the statement as a personal insult, since his main advisor is his father – the driving force behind the 30m Euro Tottenham deal - but the open verbal dispute hints that there were also some internal issues.

Players from the current squad claim that Son was not willing to face competition anymore, which was growing greater with new signings. Son, meanwhile, claims he is fulfilling a “childhood dream” by playing in England.

In any case, Son has not been seen at Leverkusen practice since Tuesday and he also missed Bayer’s Bundesliga match last Saturday, officially because ‘he had a cold’. He has not seemed in contention for the starting eleven recently, and there has been English interest in him for years.

So perhaps this was the right time to go.

The 23-year-old should do well at his new workplace straight away, because he is confident, determined, used to high expectations and also to experienced at adapting to foreign environments.

He coincidently ended up in HSV`s football boarding school when he was 17 after a football exchange programme, without knowing a word of German. He later stated that he was positively sure back then he would make it to the Bundesliga.

“He is a great guy, a very respectful person, and yet there is something intriguing around him,” said Ruud van Nistelrooy back in 2010, while acting as one of Son’s most important mentors.

The former Dutch national, along with several Hamburg managers, saw Son had become a very complete player at very young age. Along with Asian virtues such as good endurance and mental strength, he also brings in somewhat of a physical toughness, being 1.83m tall and weighing 76 kilos.

Son can shoot well with both feet and can play on either position in the attack. His only obvious weakness is headers.

He did better in Hamburg every year, scoring 12 goals in the 2011/12 season, and was transferred to Leverkusen for 10 million Euros. And although Son scored 21 goals during two Bundesliga seasons and has grown to be respected as a decent striker, he could not fully live up to the expectations.

Especially in his first year, Son missed a lot of excellent scoring chances, and was often substituted.

With Son leaving for good, the German view is hardening that the current English transfer policy is now at the top of a new and overpriced food chain.

Leverkusen reacted instantly, signing Kevin Kampl from Borussia Dortmund for an alleged 10 million Euros. Most fans find that too much. But hey, Leverkusen can afford it now.

If Son Heung-Min, on the other hand, is worth £22 million, that has yet to be seen.

Some issues might have even lowered his value. Because technically, Son still has to serve between 24 and 26 months of military service in his home country.

South Korea is very strict about it. Leverkusen last year did not allow him to participate in the Asian games, in which a gold medal could have meant a patriotic pardon from the service.

He will have to try to get that pardon in another tournament for his national team now.