Son Heung-Min signs with LAFC, bringing South Korean football to the City of Angels

South Korean soccer player Son Heung-Min has signed with the Los Angeles Football Club in a record-breaking $26 million transfer fee. This breaks a record formerly held by Ivorian striker Emmanuel Latte Lath, who transferred from Middlesbrough to Atlanta United for $22 million in February. Son, a popular forward and two-footed player, previously played for Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League and is often known as the “greatest Asian player of all time” by news outlet rankings and fans.

In his farewell speech, Son said that he would miss the fans at Hotspur, a club where he played for 10 years, scoring 127 goals and 71 assists in the English Premier League. He also became the first Asian player to win the coveted Premier League Golden Boot in 2022. “And as a kid, you welcomed me and as I grew up I’m leaving you, but there’s always good timing,” he continued in his speech. “I always wanted to leave in a perfect way, (so) that people can think about me in very proud moments and very happy moments. This is the right time to say goodbye.”

Growing up in Chuncheon, South Korea, Son was scouted at an early age. He arrived in Hamburg, Germany alongside two other 16-year-old South Korean players in 2008 to train for the German Bundesliga league. His father, former South Korean national team soccer player Son Woong-jung, accompanied and trained him. Facing a new country and language, Son Heung-Min quickly picked up the German language through immersion and famously watching SpongeBob episodes.

After playing for Hamburg SV and Bayer Leverkusen, Son joined Tottenham Hotspurs in 2015, and immediately established himself as a force. He helped the Hotspurs reach the Champions League final in 2018-19 and the English Football League Cup final in 2020-21, and won the FIFA Puskas Award in December 2020.

Son, who wears number 7, is credited with growing the English football fanbase among the Korean diaspora, inspiring the Hotspurs to do a preseason tour in South Korea in 2022. He also serves as captain of the South Korean National Team, making more than 130 appearances with the team, including in three World Cups. His move has also been welcomed by the fans in Los Angeles, a city home to more than 320,000 people of Korean descent, one of the largest populations outside of the Korean peninsula. He will also find fans among the large Mexican diaspora, many of whom fondly remember a 2018 World Cup goal Son scored that helped knock out Germany and push Mexico into the next round. 

Next year, Son is expected to appear in the 2026 World Cup for South Korea held in North America.