South Korean star Son Heung-min on Wednesday said he was “here to win” as Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles welcomed the arrival of the “global icon” from Tottenham Hotpsur.
The 33-year-old would reportedly cost an MLS record US$26 million transfer fee, according to ESPN and The Athletic, after a decade in the Premier League where he became a household name.
“I’m here to win, and I will perform,” he said at an introductory news conference at BMO Stadium, which was packed with US and South Korean media, fans and luminaries, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Photo: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / USA Today
He was already itching to get to work with his new teammates, after watching them beat Mexican club Tigres UANL 2-1 in a Leagues Cup match on Tuesday night amid rabid support from fans energized by rumors of his signing.
“It was just, like, insane,” he said. “I just wanted to run onto the pitch and show my performance.”
An emotional Son on Saturday announced in his homeland that he would be leaving Spurs, just months after ending the club’s 17-year trophy drought by lifting the UEFA Europa League as captain.
He leaves as Tottenham’s fifth-highest goalscorer of all-time with 173 goals in 454 appearances.
“Sonny is a global icon and one of the most dynamic and accomplished players in world football,” Los Angeles copresident and general manager John Thorrington said. “We are proud that he has chosen Los Angeles for the next chapter of his extraordinary career.”
Son said it was Thorrington who sold him on Los Angeles.
“If I’m honest, it was not my first choice,” he said. “But first call, when I talked to John after the season finished, he just changed my mind. He changed my heart. He changed my brain. He showed me the destination where I should be.”
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