The last few years have been more than a little bumpy for Tottenham Hotspur.
The club has cycled through managers of varying styles before landing on the uber-attacking Ange Postecoglou.
On top of that, the squad has seen a fair bit of churn, with a number of players leaving, most notably the record-breaking and era-defining Harry Kane.
However, as this season has shown, the North Londoners’ project is far from complete, and it might soon be time for another club icon to follow the Englishman out the door.
The Spurs star who should be phased out
It will come as no surprise to those who have been watching Spurs this season that the icon we are talking about is Son Heung-min.
The South Korean superstar is undoubtedly a legend of the club and one of the most devastatingly effective wingers the league has seen over the last decade or so, but therein lies one of the key issues with him playing a prominent role today: he’s been around too long.
Unfortunately, as with all professional footballers at some point in their careers, the former Bayer Leverkusen star is simply a victim of time.
Goalkeeper
28
Centre-Back
27
Full-Back
25
Central Midfielder
25
Wide Attacker
26
Central attacking mid
26
Striker
27
For example, research from The Athletic revealed that wingers hit their peak at 26 years old, and their ability to take-on defenders dramatically decreases at 30 – the Lilywhites star is 33 in May.
Moreover, while he can still be brilliant in bursts here and there, as he was against Ipswich Town, those bursts don’t come frequently enough anymore.
Indeed, even though he has been able to rack up a tally of ten goals and ten assists this season, he’s found the back of the net in the league just once since the 22nd of December.
In all, Son is a true Tottenham legend, but to ensure Postecoglou’s project can continue to develop next season and beyond, it might be time for him to take more of a backseat in the squad, especially as the manager might already have the perfect replacement.
The Spurs ace to replace Son
While the likes of Mikey Moore and Wilson Odobert could certainly fall into this category, we are leaning towards Mathys Tel.
The 19-year-old dynamo may only be on loan from Bayern Munich at the moment, but there is a £45m option to buy in his deal and, according to reports earlier this month, there is a feeling from some in the know that he’s open to remaining in North London for the long term.
Now, it would be fair to say that, so far this season, the young Frenchman hasn’t exactly shown why he is so highly rated.
However, he was limited to just 458 minutes in Germany and has only just arrived in a brand-new team and country, so the fact he’s already scored a goal in just 299 minutes of action is a reasonable return.
Appearances
41
Starts
10
Minutes
1406′
Goals
10
Assists
6
Goal Involvements per Match
0.39
Minutes per Goal Involvement
87.87′
Moreover, when the “mind-blowing” prospect, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, was given 1406 minutes of first-team football for Bayern in 41 appearances last season, he managed to score ten goals and provide six assists, which comes out to an astounding average of a goal involvement every 87.87 minutes.
Finally, while he has played up top a few times since moving to N17, he spent just as much time off the left while in Germany, so he should be able to step into Son’s shoes and support Dominic Solanke on his return without much trouble.
Ultimately, the South Korean international has been nothing short of sensational for Tottenham over the last decade, but to move the club forward, he probably needs to step back, and in Tel, Postecoglou could have the perfect long-term replacement.
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