Son Heung-min, the Tottenham captain, has expressed his “love” for his teammate Rodrigo Bentancur, despite the midfielder making an alleged racist remark about the South Korea forward over the summer.
The Uruguay international was charged by the Football Association last Thursday with an alleged misconduct breach in relation to a media interview. In the clip, which emerged in June, the host of a Canal 10 show asked Bentancur to show the shirt of a Spurs player, with the 27-year-old allegedly replying: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”
While an apology from Bentancur was swiftly forthcoming, due to this being an “aggravated breach”, if an independent regulatory commission panel upholds the FA charge he could be suspended for six to 12 domestic matches.
Speaking before Thursday’s Europa League home tie against Qarabag, Son said: “At the moment, because of the FA process, I can’t say much about it. But I love Rodrigo, I love him. We’ve a lot of good memories, we started playing together when he joined [in January 2022]. He knew. He apologised straight afterwards when we had holiday. I was at home. I didn’t even realise what was going on. He sent me a long message and you could feel it was coming from his heart.
“When we came back for pre-season, he felt really sorry and he almost cried when he apologised publicly and personally as well. He felt like he was really sorry. We are all human and all make mistakes and we learn from it.”
Son is one of only two players, along with Ben Davies, left at Tottenham from the squad that reached the Champions League final in 2019. Defeat in Madrid to Liverpool extended the club’s trophy drought and it now stands at 16 years, but Son is determined to end the wait for silverware this season.
“Yeah, it’s a dream [to win a trophy]. There is no hiding this. That’s what we work for,” Son said. “Obviously, we are looking for another big competition that everybody wants to win. It’s going to be tough, a tough competition, a lot of games and a lot of travelling, which makes it even harder. We’ve just got to be ready and take it seriously, the competition, because it’s a massive competition.”
Son also reflected on his contract situation after he entered the final 12 months of his current deal at Spurs. The club hold an option to extend his terms by a further year and, it is understood, plan to activate it.
“We haven’t talked [about] anything yet,” said the 32-year-old. “ It was very clear for me, I’m very focused for this season. I just want to win something that everybody in this club and these players and all around deserves. That’s what I’m working for.”
Meanwhile, Ange Postecoglou has become the latest high-profile figure to express concern at the increasing number of games players at elite level are having to take part in, with the Spurs manager appearing to back the idea of them striking in protest.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri suggested last week that players could strike over fixture congestion before days later suffering a serious knee injury in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal.
“They may take things into their own hands,” said Postecoglou. “They’re the ones most affected to be honest, so you would understand if they started to think as a collective, how much are we going to have to continually not have a say in?
“I have spoken already about the fact we’re getting to a real dangerous level about what our expectations are around players. Instead of focusing on one or two tournaments, it’s about the calendar. That is more of an issue.
“Players don’t get a break between seasons any more like they used to. There are more tournaments both at club level, international level and continental level. So, it’s going to get to a point where we are not going to have the best players out there playing and even worse them breaking down for various reasons. It’s definitely something that needs to be addressed.”
The issue is of particular significance for Son, who regularly travels across the world to feature in South Korea matches before a quick turnaround back to domestic matters. “A lot of games, a lot of travelling. We’ve got to look after ourselves, which sometimes is very hard,” he said. “Mentally, physically, you’re not ready. Then going on to the pitch and then the risk of injury is massive. We’re not robots.
“Don’t get me wrong, we love playing football. It’s about adding more games. It’s normal that everyone is at high risk of injury. We play 50, 60 games and not more than 70 games. When the fixtures come, the players have to play. There’s a lot going on. It’s not fair. Rodri said the right things.”