Tottenham Hotspur’s Korean striker Son Heung-min, right, controls the ball during the pre-season friendly football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Shakhtar Donetsk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Aug. 6. AFP-YonhapFormer Golden Boot winner Son Heung-min will try to redeem himself in the new Premier League season kicking off on the weekend, while a pair of other Korean stars will look to make their mark on their new clubs in new leagues.
Son and Tottenham Hotspur will open the 2023-2024 season at Brentford at 2 p.m. Sunday, or 10 p.m. Sunday in Seoul time.
After winning the Premier League scoring title with a career-best 23 goals in the 2021-2022 season for Tottenham Hotspur, Son slumped to 10 goals in the injury-plagued 2022-2023 campaign.
Son suffered facial fractures in November 2022 and then dealt with sports hernia in May 2023, the two injuries bookending one of his least productive Premier League seasons.
The 10-goal output was the second-fewest total for Son since joining Spurs for the 2015-2016 season. At times last season, Son struggled to find space to roam under the defensive-minded coach Antonio Conte.
Son will be playing for a new bench boss in Ange Postecoglou, who has vowed that Spurs will play exciting, attacking and aggressive football on his watch.
Son may have to do so without his longtime partner Harry Kane, who has been linked to Bayern Munich. If the move is finalized, Kane will have another 추천 Korean teammate in Germany ― center back Kim Min-jae.
Kim had a banner year for Napoli last season, helping the Italian club to their first Serie A title in 33 years and being named the league’s best defender. He parlayed that into a move to Bayern Munich in July for a reported transfer fee of 50 million euros.
After earlier stops in China, Turkey and Italy, Kim signed for Bayern Munich, the most successful club in Bundesliga history. They have won 33 domestic league titles, including the past 11 in a row, along with a slew of trophies at domestic cup and continental competitions.
Bayern Munich’s first match of the season will come at the German Super Cup against RB Leipzig at 8:45 p.m. Saturday in Munich, or 3:45 am. Sunday in Seoul. Their new Bundesliga campaign kicks off next week.
Kim will be one of three Koreans in the Bundesliga, alongside Lee Jae-sung of Mainz 05 and Jeong Woo-yeong of VfB Stuttgart.
Another prominent Korean player switched clubs in Europe this summer, with flashy midfielder Lee Kang-in leaving RCD Mallorca in Spain to join Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in France.