There are projections that Son Heung-min (Tottenham) will have a new challenge opportunity.

TBR Football reported on the 19th (Korean time) that "interest in Son Heung-min in the Saudi Arabian league is very high" and that "there is also interest in acquiring Son Heung-min from Major League Soccer (MLS)."

Of course, the interest from Saudi Arabia and MLS came while explaining that Tottenham would absolutely not propose a new contract after the current contract with Son Heung-min ends in June 2026. TBR Football had previously reported in November of last year that Tottenham was sure to exercise a one-year extension option on the current contract with Son Heung-min, but later made it clear that they had already rejected discussions about a subsequent contract, causing controversy.

There was a projection that Son Heung-min would disappear from Tottenham after June 2026.

Son Heung-min's future at Tottenham is unclear. Reports from the local UK media indicated that Tottenham planned to offer Son Heung-min a multi-year contract that includes a salary increase starting midway through last season. However, discussions about a new contract have since vanished, and there have been rumors that Tottenham unilaterally canceled negotiations. Ultimately, Tottenham's choice was a simple activation of the one-year extension option. They delayed activating even that, opting to bind Son Heung-min until June 2026 only in January. Naturally, the possibility of Son Heung-min leaving as a free agent (FA) at the end of this season was also eliminated. The 'Spanish giant' Barcelona also considered acquiring Son Heung-min, but it essentially fell through.

The sudden collapse of Son Heung-min's contract renewal was due to Tottenham's change of heart. TBR Football reported that "Tottenham withdrew from contract negotiations with Son Heung-min last summer. When coach Ange Postecoglou first arrived, Tottenham told Son Heung-min that they would discuss a new contract as long as he adapted to the system. However, while that negotiation started, it was canceled." Furthermore, TBR Football added, "Tottenham chose the one-year extension option to preserve Son Heung-min's value. Son Heung-min's side has not had new discussions with Tottenham, and they firmly believe they are likely to leave North London this summer." The most decisive variable was the intervention of the board. TBR Football stated, "Last year, Tottenham's upper management intervened to cancel the talks due to concerns about Son Heung-min's long-term future. They believe that their correctness has been proven." The leadership, including Chairman Daniel Levy, seems to believe that Son Heung-min's aging curve has indeed hit.

They also evaluated the possibility of Son Heung-min's transfer coolly.

TBR Football noted, "We were able to confirm what Tottenham officials said regarding Son Heung-min's uncertain future and learned how the upper management of Tottenham and Son Heung-min’s agent view his situation."

They added, "The Tottenham board believes that it is natural to leave the renewal negotiations table with Son Heung-min given his current performance," and noted, "Seeing Son Heung-min's decreased performance this season, they believe their judgment was correct." They asserted that they already secured a replacement resource to fill the left wing where Son Heung-min plays. The player rumored to be transferring to Tottenham for over a year is Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace.

On the 20th, Cutoffside reported, "Saudi Arabia, Al Ittihad, and Al Hilal are all interested in Son Heung-min and are willing to pay €50 million (70 billion won) for the South Korean national team striker."

With interest being shown from both Saudi Arabia and MLS, Son Heung-min's trajectory is heading toward new challenges.

[OSEN=Reporter Woo Chung-won]