Son Heung-min becomes first player from Asia to win Premier League Player of the Month
Son Heung-min has been named Premier League Player in the Month for September, making him the first player from Asia to ever win the award. It's quite the turnaround for a player who wanted to leave Tottenham Hotspur in the summer and is only still at the club because Mauricio Pochettino refused to let him go.
Son signed with Spurs from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2015 for £22 million, by far the club's most expensive buy of the year. But while Tottenham surged to third in the league, Son struggled and with a glut of wingers, wanted out. Pochettino maintained that he could succeed at White Hart Lane, though, just like he believed when he signed him. Son has shown it already.
After missing the start of the campaign while playing for South Korea at the Olympics, Son made his season debut on September 10 and promptly scored two goals to go along with an assist. He scored two more against Middlesbrough and even added a goal in the Champions League. All of this came in his first three weeks on the field for Spurs. Son looked perfectly happy in England and with Spurs. He's broken through and the days of his wanting out are behind him.
Son's Premier League Player of the Month award was every bit deserved for his play, but also a breakthrough for players from his continent.
There haven't been a ton of Asian players in the Premier League. While the Bundesliga has spent the better part of a decade actively scouting Japan and South Korea in particular, the Premier League has been a bit behind. Shinji Kagawa, Atsuto Ochida and Makoto Hasebe are among those who have been fixtures in the Bundesliga and even the Premier League's best Asian players now, Son and Shinji Okazaki, were bought from Bundesliga clubs.
Part of that is because of the work permit rules that make it more difficult to get players cleared to play in England, but there is also a general hesitancy to sign players from places that haven't proven they can churn out quality players. Son has been touted by some as the most talented player to ever come from the continent. If he makes good on that talent, like he did in September, it could be the beginning of a wave of Asian players making their way into the Premier League.
MORE FROM FOX SOCCER
