Son Heung-min will leave Tottenham Hotspur after 10 years at the club, the forward has announced.
The South Korean international, who led Spurs to their first trophy in 17 years with victory in the Europa League final, has attracted interest from MLS side Los Angeles FC.
In an emotional press conference during a pre-season tour of South Korea, Son said the decision was “the most difficult one I have made in my career”.
“I came to north London as a kid – a very young age, a young boy came to London who even didn’t speak English,” Son said.
“Leaving this club as a grown man is a very, very proud moment… I need a new environment to push myself. I need a little bit of change – 10 years is a long time.”
Son is the most high-profile departure as Thomas Frank continues to overhaul the squad in his first summer since taking over from Ange Postecoglou.
Mohammed Kudus and Kota Takai remain the only first team arrivals – with the exceptions of Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso making their loan moves permanent and Luka Vuskovic finally arriving from Hadjuk Split.
Joao Palhinha is set to join on loan from Bayern Munich in the coming days, but it now becomes a priority for Frank to replace Son, a forward who made 454 appearances for the club, scoring 173 goals.
Eberechi Eze
Spurs have had a long-standing interest in Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze, but Arsenal are currently leading the race for the England international. Eze has a £68m release clause and activating it would make him Tottenham’s most expensive signing in history.
Beating Arsenal to his signature would not solely be down to the numbers, however, as Eze is understood to be happy to stay at Palace unless the right move arises. Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey has also been mooted as an option but there has been little momentum on that front.
Tottenham have already missed out on two key targets who have opted to stay with their current clubs – both Morgan Gibbs-White and Antoine Semenyo have signed contract extensions at Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth respectively.
The current squad
Wilson Odobert
Of the current crop, the most likely replacement. Injuries restricted Odobert to just nine Premier League starts in his first season since joining from Burnley but it was primarily in the Europa League that he impressed.
Mathys Tel
Tel only scored the two league goals in his initial stint on loan from Bayern Munich but did enough to convince Spurs to pay £30m to keep him in north London.
Manor Solomon
Solomon enjoyed a prolific loan spell at Leeds last season but has been given a chance to work his way into Frank’s plans in pre-season. A permanent deal to join Elland Road has not materialised and he could now be given another shot.
Bryan Gil
Gil has been on loan three times in as many years but Girona, his latest club, have opted against signing him. His future is still up in the air but there is a chance he could still be at Tottenham by the start of the Premier League season.
The long-term contenders
Mikey Moore
The 17-year-old has joined Rangers on loan in search of first-team football but often tipped as a long-term successor to Son. Moore can play across the attack but can be used on the left, cutting into the middle in a similar vein to Son.
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Jamie Donley
Donley starred at Leyton Orient on loan alongside Josh Keeley and is expected to make at least one more loan move before a tilt at the senior team.
A shift in system
Postecoglou mainly operated with a 4-2-3-1 led by Dominic Solanke and throughout pre-season Frank has largely done the same. It was also the system he predominantly used at Brentford last season.
However, in a quarter of games he opted for a 4-3-3, which Spurs could utilise with Solanke in the middle, Odobert on the left and Brennan Johnson on the right, dropping Dejan Kulusevski into a more central role as was so effective in the first half of 2024-25.
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