Both Sonny and boss Pochettino confirm the Korean was looking to leave this summer.
Son Heung-min ’s four goals in three Premier League starts have catapulted Spurs to their best start for 51 years – only a month after he asked to leave White Hart Lane.
Amid all the Pep talk about Manchester City looking invincible, we are about to find out — the early-season top two meet at White Hart Lane next Sunday.
You would have thought, from the hourly medical bulletins about Harry Kane , that the crocked England striker was in intensive care instead of facing two months out with ankle ligament damage.
But in Kane’s absence, there is a new favourite Son in N17 – which is a revelation in itself.
Struggling to live up to his £22million price-tag after his move from Bayer Leverkusen 13 months ago and frustrated by a lack of first-team starts, Son wanted to leave Tottenham and return to German football after flying back from South Korea’s Olympic campaign at Rio.
He changed his mind following a heart-to-heart with Mauricio Pochettino and, after sinking Boro with two goals in the first 23 minutes, Son revealed it was the manager’s honesty that persuaded him to stay.
“It was good to talk to the manager, and I am very happy now,” he said.
“All I wanted to do is play in the Premier League because I like playing for Tottenham and I like scoring goals.
“It’s difficult to say now if I thought I would come back after the Olympics. I don’t know how to answer that, because I am staying here now and I am very happy.
“It is true I went to see the gaffer because I wanted to ask him to play more – I am a footballer and every player wants to play games. He was very honest with me, very truthful, and I am very grateful to him.
“This is very special, but the season has only just started and we have to keep this up as a team and I need to keep this form personally.”
Tottenham head for Tuesday’s Champions League date away to CSKA Moscow with Pochettino in good heart.
The Argentine said: “He asked to leave after the Olympic Games, but we decided he would stay with us. I didn’t want him to go.
“The expectation, when you arrive in a new country with a different style of football, is difficult and he struggled to settle, but he is working very hard and that is the most important thing.
“If you work hard and have patience in football, you can pay back and in the last few games he has started scoring, which is very good for him and very good for us.
(Daily Mirror)
