Son Heung-Min will be known as one of the all-time greats at Tottenham Hotspur — a decade of leadership, some incredible moments including a Puskas award, and leading Spurs to the Europa League title and their first trophy in 17 years will do that.
But Sonny never got a chance to say goodbye to Tottenham’s home fans. Son made his decision to leave the club while Tottenham were on its preseason tour to Asia this summer, a tour that contractually required his participation. He announced that he was leaving the club ahead of Spurs’ match against Newcastle in Seoul, eventually signing with MLS club LAFC. He never returned to London, but stayed in South Korea before flying to Los Angeles to finalize his sale.
There’s been a lot of stories about Sonny wanting to return to London during the MLS break to say thank you and goodbye to Tottenham’s home support. Today, the club made it official — Spurs will welcome Son back to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for an evening of celebration and thanks on December 9, the night of Spurs’ Champions League home match against Slavia Prague.
According to the official release on the club’s website, Tottenham will mark the occasion by having Sonny take the pitch before the teams walk onto the pitch to acknowledge and speak directly to the Spurs fans in what will no doubt be an incredibly emotional goodbye.
The club also announced the commissioning and work on a new mural on the Tottenham High Road that will celebrate Sonny’s accomplishments during his ten year tenure.
Son said the following in the club’s release:
“When I announced my difficult decision to leave Spurs in the summer, it was in Korea and I never got a proper chance to say goodbye to fans at the stadium.
“Now I am so happy because I am going to come back to London on 9th December, for the Champions League match, and be able to tell the Spurs fans in person just how much their support and love over 10 years has meant to me and my family. It will be emotional, but it’s important for me and the Club that this happens.”
I’d expect nothing less than this from Sonny, who perhaps more than any other player in my 20 years of Tottenham fandom, epitomized what it meant to truly love playing for Tottenham Hotspur. Get your tissues ready, there won’t be a dry eye in the house.