Son Heung-min valued to be in EPL’s 25th position at 103.2 billion won

The International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) eval‎uated Son Heung-min’s value at over 100 billion won again this year.

Son’s value has been estimated at 78.5 million euros according to the 2020 report released on Wednesday by the International Center for Sports Studies (CIES) under the FIFA – “Scientific assessment of football players’ transfer value” for “Big Five” leagues in Europe. This is the amount that needs to be paid to Tottenham Hotspur to have Son transferred without the agreement of his current team excluding salary. Though still impressive, the South Korean’s value decreased from last year’s 93.3 million euros.

However, Son is still ranked in the 54th position including soccer players of the English Premier League (EPL), Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and French Ligue 1, and 25th in the EPL. The CIES made estimations for players expected to deserve over 50 million euros for transfer, among which Son is the only Asian.

Son who transferred from German Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Tottenham Hotspur at 30 million euros in 2015 saw an increase in his value to 44.8 million euros in 2017. The South Korean footballer peaked at 102.3 million euros after winning the gold medal at the Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games.

The South Korean is likely to play as a front-line attacker replacing Harry Kane who suffered injury. Opponents’ defense will be focused on him while he needs to pass the ball to sides and attempt scoring. “There are a lot of players in Tottenham Hotspur that can play as an attacker, other than Kane,” Son said with determined voice. “We are ready to fight and compete in any situation.”


Jae-Yeong Yoo elegant@donga.com