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Son Heung-min (Yonhap News) |
South Korean football sensation Son Heung-min has joined Bayer Leverkusen in the top German league, the club announced Thursday.
The Bundesliga team announced on its website that it has plucked the 20-year-old forward from another German club, Hamburger SV, and signed him to a five-year contract. Financial details were not disclosed.
Son enjoyed a breakout season in 2012-2013 with Hamburger SV, tying for the team lead with a career-high 12 goals. Throughout the season, Son had been subject to transfer rumors, with English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur considered a front runner in the sweepstakes.
Yet it was Leverkusen, which finished third this past season, who scooped up the dynamic player.
"In Son, we have signed a player who, despite his age, was a key player at Hamburger SV," said Wolfgang Holzhauser, Leverkusen's chairman. "He has huge potential and is exactly the type of player we are looking to bring into the club for next season when we compete in Europe."
Rudi Voller, the team's sporting director, echoed the sentiment.
"Son is quick, agile, technically strong and has a fantastic shot," said Voller, one of the great German players from the 1980s and 1990s. "He will help us achieve our goals in the Bundesliga, DFB Cup (in Germany) and (UEFA) Champions League."
Leverkusen finished behind Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, the reigning European club champion and the runner-up, in the Bundesliga. These three teams have qualified for the group stage at next season's Champions League.
Leverkusen forward Stefan Kiesling led the Bundesliga with 25 goals. The team's second-leading scorer, Andre Schurrle, is on the move to Chelsea in England, and Leverkusen sees Son as his replacement.
"We have made it clear from the very beginning that Andre Schurrle's transfer to Chelsea would only be feasible providing we had an adequate replacement," Holzhauser said. "By signing Son to a long-term contract, we've brought in a top-class alternative."
Son joined Hamburger SV's youth club in 2008 at the age of 16, and made his senior debut in 2010. He earned his first Bundesliga goal in October 2010 to become the youngest Hamburger SV player to score in the top German league.
He went on to score three goals in 13 league games in 2010-2011, and five more in 27 games in 2011-2012, before breaking out in 2012-2013.
Before Son, South Korean football legend Cha Bum-kun starred for Leverkusen from 1983 to 1989, finding the net 52 times in 185 games. In the 1985-1986 season, Cha scored 17 goals, the most by a South Korean player in a European league.
Cha's son, Du-ri, signed with Leverkusen in 2002 but was loaned to other teams and never made an appearance for Leverkusen.
Son is currently training with the South Korean national team, as it readies to face Iran next Tuesday in the final World Cup qualifier. South Korea can qualify for its eighth consecutive World Cup by earning at least a draw against Iran. Son has scored two international goals in 15 appearances. (Yonhap News)
