Son Heung-min vital to Tottenham’s present and future ambitions

It sure is an exciting time to be a Tottenham Hotspur fan. The club may have teased us with a short-lived bid for the Premier League title this season, but most would agree that keeping up with the relentless pace of Manchester City and Liverpool was always going to be difficult.

Yet, after many false dawns, there is no doubt that Spurs are finally in a position to really push forward and establish themselves among Europe’s elite. It is why so much fuss has been made about the new stadium when it (finally, at long last) opened its shiny doors.

While the rest of the football world marvels at its beauty, size and cutting-edge technology, Tottenham fans see so much more. Of course, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is absolutely magnificent – one of the best in the world – but more than that, it is a symbol of the club’s progress in recent years and a statement of our future ambitions.

To begin fulfilling the ambitions symbolised by the new stadium, though, Tottenham need to continue progressing on the pitch, and vital to that is not only smart recruitment but retaining the key stars already on the books.

In the not-too-distant past, it would have been a matter of when, not if, our stars would move on to clubs consistently fighting for the biggest titles. Dimitar Berbatov, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale are all recent examples who moved on as Spurs struggled to match their ambitions.

Player of the season

While there is still work to be done to be constantly competing domestically and in Europe for trophies, Tottenham are on the cusp of something special, so it’s vitally important the club adopt the long-game and resist any and all offers for their key players this summer.

The importance of Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, and Jan Vertonghen to this project has been established for some time, but another player has emerged over the past two seasons, particularly this campaign, who not only has a central role to this team but should have a major influence for the next few years.

Son Heung-min has been our player of the season and there would be few surprises if the biggest clubs in Europe are interested in his services this summer. The South Korea captain possesses pace, trickery, a constant goal threat – as shown by his 20 goals and 10 assists in all competitions so far this season – as well as the sort of versatility all sides crave from their attacking players.

Dangerous from either flank or behind the striker, Son has also capably filled in as a fluid No 9 in the absence of Kane. His performances against Manchester City over two legs in the Champions League quarter-finals again proved his ability to shine on the biggest occasions. In addition, at just 26-years-old, Son is sure to only get better over the next few years.

Long-term benefits over short-term gain

All of which makes Son an attractive target for Europe’s heavyweights like Real Madrid, Barcelona and even Bayern Munich. However, even if such clubs attempt to flex their financial muscles, Spurs need to realise the long-term benefits of retaining Son.

Should Tottenham require a quirky comparison to their potential dilemma of stick or twist – short- vs long-term – then they should look no further than the story of Russian programmer ‘Alex’.

Alex’s fascinating story is the stuff of legend. While working as a freelance programmer for a Russian casino, he discovered how to decipher slot machines that would guarantee consistent payouts.

Realising he was on to a winner, Alex didn’t settle after one score, but instead rolled out a sophisticated and widespread operation involving dozens of ‘employees’ to rake in millions of dollars over a 6-7 year period.

Now, Alex’s motives may have been morally dubious – although many experts have deemed his methods to be acceptable and above board – but his story is proof of the benefits of recognising the long-term benefits of a strategy over a quick payday.

Of course, there is nothing morally wrong Spurs being tempted to sell Son, should an enticing offer be presented in the off-season – particularly with a new £1 billion stadium to pay off – but a lesson can be taken from Alex’s long-term vision over the temptation of short-term gain.

Retaining Son and ideally securing him to a new contract, even with his current deal running to 2023, will be a big statement of intent that Tottenham are now in a position to ward off interest from the very clubs they hope to join at Europe’s top table.

Equally, the club will demonstrate that they are now in a position to match their best players’ individual ambitions and show that the new stadium can become the venue of title-chasing teams for years to come.