AUG 5 — Every Tottenham Hotspur fan wept when the announcement was made last week: Son Heung-Min will be leaving Spurs.

Sonny, the South Korean sensation who danced through defenses like a waiter dancing past crowded tables, the man whose smile lit up stadiums and goal celebrations, is finally moving on from North London.

As a Spurs fan since the days of Martin Jol, I’m speechless.

Yes, I understand he’s already been here 10 years and, especially after winning the Europa Cup (and blasting in only God knows how many goals), there’s really nothing more to prove. 

Yes, Tottenham have (yet another) new manager in the form of enigmatic Thomas Frank and maybe it’s better for Tottenham to have an overhaul of their squad beginning with the removal of the only member of the 2019 team that made it to the Champions League Final. 

Beginning with Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham since 2023 has had a sort of blood transfusion with almost all the old players leaving (war-horses like Ben Davies notwithstanding) and a ton of new talent coming in. 

Son’s exit is nothing if not an inevitable consolidation of this process.

Yes at age 33, perhaps it’s better for everyone that Sonny moves on to Los Angeles or Saudi Arabia, earn (very!) big bucks playing more or less cosmetic football instead of pitting his way-past-his-prime legs against the stronger youngsters in the Premier League and European competitions. 

He arrived at the club in 2015 from Bayer Leverkusen for a modest £22 million (RM124 million). Ten years later, he’s worth easily a few times that amount, a sum Tottenham can surely benefit from to bring in new players.

And yet… sigh.

Nobody who'd be proud to identify as a Tottenham fan will be able to avoid shedding one or two tears. 

As James Maddison said recently, “Tottenham is Son, Son is Tottenham.” That basically sums it all up.

Tottenham without Son, is like Manchester United without Sir Alex Ferguson. Or like Malaysia without nasi lemak or durians. Nothing less than a hefty mind-shift will be needed to grasp his absence from the club.

When you watch highlights of Tottenham goals, literally nobody (not even the great Harry Kane) can compare to Son’s relentless running. 

His 2018 solo effort against Chelsea in the Premier League, essentially blistering past the entire Blues defense, was monumental and characteristic of the kind of player Son was. 

Yet even that could not compare with his 70-metre dash past practically the whole Burnley team for his goal which eventually won the FIFA Puskás Award in 2020. 

Those two goals reflect the industriousness and inspiration of the man whose goals against Manchester United are celebrated by Korean Man U fans! 

I mean, when a national treasure delivers something amazing, it really doesn’t matter which team you support.

And, amazingly, Son became the first Asian player to win the Premier League golden boot, sharing the title with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah with 23 goals in the 2021-22 season. 

A year later was the first from the continent to reach 100 Premier League goals. 

I mean, the accolades and awards for this guy don’t seem to end.

No wonder, when Tottenham won their first trophy in 17 years by winning the Europa League, nobody could divorce the club’s achievement from Sonny’s feats. 

It’s the club’s last and fitting gift to Sonny just as it was his last and proud and brilliant and definitive contribution to Tottenham.

Again, and always, Spurs is Sonny and Sonny is Spurs. 

Dear Heung-Min, if you’re reading this, from the bottom of every Tottenham fan’s heart: 모든 것에 감사하고 앞으로의 행운을 빌어요!