After 10 years with Tottenham Hotspur, captain Son Heung-min announced on Saturday that he plans to leave the English Premier League club. Son, who helped Spurs win the UEFA Europa League title in May, said it was ‘the most difficult’ decision of his career and added the club was supporting him as he looks to find another team, with Major League Soccer team Los Angeles FC touted as a possible destination.

The 33-year-old South Korea international joined the club in 2015 after spending two seasons in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen. Son is set to start against Newcastle in a preseason friendly in Seoul on Sunday — possibly his final match with the team. “I came to north London as a young 23-year-old boy, who even didn’t speak English and [now, I’m] leaving this club as a grown man. It’s a very, very proud moment for me,” said an emotional Son, who scored 173 goals in 454 competitive appearances for the club.

“I just want to say thank you to all of the Spurs fans that gave me so much love and felt like it was my home. It was one of the toughest decisions I ever made.... But I think it’s the right time to make this decision,” he added. Son was made Spurs captain in 2023 by then coach Ange Postecoglou, after the departure of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich. Postecoglou’s successor, Thomas Frank, paid tribute to the South Korean’s immense contribution to the club.