Tottenham's global following has increased drastically since Son Heung-min joined the club. The 32-year-old signed for Spurs for £22million from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015, making him the most expensive Asian of all-time.
During his time in north London, Son has been excellent. It took him some time to hit the ground running at the start of his Tottenham career, but once he got going, there hasn't been many in the Premier League that have been better in that period. Over the last eight full seasons, Son has scored 154 goals in 378 matches.
Following his fine strike in a 2-1 win over Brighton in April 2023, Son moved up to 100 Premier League goals, becoming the first Asian player to reach that feat. After that, Son said he dedicated his goal to his late grandfather and hoped his achievement would inspire young Asian players.
Son's impact has been felt all over the continent, especially in his homeland of South Korea. In fact, according to a Global Fan Report from Chiliz, Tottenham's following in South Korea (42.3 per cent) is the largest share by a team in any particular country - far above Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.
As South Korean fans are most likely to have their love of football fuelled by an iconic player (38.21%), Son's heroics on the pitch have worked wonders for their global following. In South Korea, it's said that 58% of supporters chose their oversees team due to an individual player - by far the highest of any nation.
It's added that Tottenham have the sixth highest amount of oversees fans in world football. Real Madrid sit first, with Barcelona in second, Manchester United sitting third and Chelsea in fourth. Arsenal are fifth, with Spurs sixth and above Manchester City, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
Son's impact has helped grow Tottenham's following oversees; there is no doubt about it, and the fee, which was said to be £22 million, does look to have been a bargain both on and off the pitch.
Meanwhile, it's reported that English clubs are by far the most popular with oversees fans. 32% of fans say their non-domestic team plays in England, with Manchester United still the global powerhouse and dwarfing their rivals despite not winning the Premier League since 2012/13. The Premier League is the most popular league for fans from the USA, Nigeria, Japan, South Korea, and Italy.