7 hours ago
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Son Heung-min has been speaking about his decision to leave Tottenham Hotspur to the media out in South Korea during the club's pre-season tour.
football.london reported earlier that the Spurs captain had told the club and new head coach Thomas Frank of his decision to leave this summer on the perfect high note. Frank is believed to have spoken to a number of senior players at Tottenham when he was first appointed and Son was the only one who indicated a desire to leave.
On Saturday, Son spoke at a press conference in Seoul with Frank ahead of the pre-season match against Newcastle and the 33-year-old explained his decision to look for a new challenge.
Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those in South Korea putting the questions to the Tottenham legend at what is likely to be his final press conference for the north London club. Here is every single word an emotional Son said, including the statement he made to open the press conference.
Son's statement
Thank you for having us again here in Korea for the second year in a row. Everybody really appreciates it. It’s just incredible. Yesterday at the airport we felt the welcome. Everybody loved this and can’t wait to play tomorrow.
Before we start, I just want to share the information that I have decided to leave this club this summer. Respectfully, this club is helping me to make my decision. I just want to share this before we start.
Where will you go?
I’m not here to talk about my next team. I want to focus on tomorrow’s match.
Why have you decided to leave now?
It was the most difficult decision I have made in my career. I have spent 10 years at Tottenham. The main reason is I have achieved everything I can at Tottenham. I need a new environment for a fresh challenge. I’m grateful the club have respected my decision and wish Spurs well for the next season.
You've given us 10 years of wonderful memories at Spurs, how difficult is it going to be to leave?
I said it before but it was the most difficult decision of my career. I have been here for 10 years. It’s a beautiful club with beautiful fans. I have such amazing memories. It was so hard to make the decision. I just felt like I needed a new environment to push myself to get more out of me I think I needed a little bit of change. 10 years is a long time.
I came to north London as a kid. 23 years old, a very young age. A boy who couldn’t speak English. I leave this club as a grown man. Thank you to all the Spurs fans who have given me so much love. It felt like it was my home. It was one of the toughest decisions I ever made. I think it is the right time to leave. I hope that everyone understands that and respects that.
What would you be looking for in your next team?
For now it's to focus on tomorrow's match. I would not give many comments on the next team. Obviously I would like to focus on tomorrow's match and the future and the next team will be decided afterwards. In choosing the next team, the World Cup will definitely be one of the key points that I will consider. It might be my last World Cup so I need my new environment to give all that I've got for my football career. As well as the World Cup, I will also need to find a team that will make me happy while playing football.
Have you spoken to your team-mates about the decision and how did they react?
I spoke with only a few guys, ones I've spent a long time with. Obviously they're disappointed, as a friendship or as a team-mate you'd be very disappointed if someone decided to leave, but in a respectful way. Obviously I'm very close with Ben so we've spoken about the future a lot of times.
Obviously he fully respects my decision. So does everyone. What can I say? It's very, very hard to tell my team-mates because I sometimes probably spend more time with them than my family because we're travelling together, spending time together every single day at the training ground, five or six hours every day. I think we know each other so well. Everybody was disappointed but also in a way very happy for me. That was my feeling but I don't what they were actually feeling! They seemed happy but disappointed when I told them my decision.
You seemed to be a little sadder than normal in Hong Kong and exactly when did you make this decision?
It's been a while since I decided to leave the club. It was not easy days or weeks for me. I always try to be happy and I'm happiest when I'm playing football, but, it's not easy to leave the club where I spent 10 years light-hearted.
I tried to not give any negative impact on other players, didn't want to make any sort of noise, but it was inevitable, that people noticed my feelings. My fans even know my habits, so they could notice about it, but I'll try to have good time for the two days while I'm in here.
Yang Min-hyeok is at the club, are there any tips you'd like to give him?
I'm very happy to see young players come up and develop in Europe. I'm very proud to see Yang fight for a position in the squad. As for tips, I'd like to see Yang experience things on the field and not think too much or too hard. Just focus on what's in front of him.
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