Son Heung-Min and Mohamed Salah were born just over three weeks apart in the summer of 1992. Both are legends at their respective clubs. But while one of them describes this season as the best of his life, with Liverpool now overwhelming favorites to win the Premier League, the other has found his untouchable status at Tottenham Hotspur questioned for the first time in his career.
Father Time waits for no one, but perhaps he taps his watch face with a little more urgency for some. It can certainly seem that way for any 30-something footballer when they go through a difficult patch, just as Son has done within the wider malaise at Spurs.
Salah will be the first of the pair to turn 33, in June. He has benefited from a much more settled squad around him, the impressive impact of manager Arne Slot and a higher caliber of teammate as evidenced by the 11 places and 31 points which separate Liverpool and Spurs in the table.
But while Salah has proved himself the enduring central force in Liverpool's team, some Spurs fans have reluctantly begun to consider whether Son can still be their driving force as he approaches a decade in north London.
Such is his sense of professional and personal responsibility, Son's outward demeanour has seemingly been affected by Tottenham's issues this season. As one source told ESPN: "Maybe the main concern is not that Sonny isn't scoring, it is that he isn't smiling."
How much has Son's form dropped?
On the face of it, his bare numbers are passable. Son has six goals and nine assists from 24 Premier League appearances this season. In fact, he broke a club record in December with his 68th assist in a 5-0 win at Southampton, surpassing Darren Anderton's tally.
Hamstring and thigh problems restricted his availability through the autumn and the sheer number of injuries Spurs have suffered across the squad -- with absentees regularly entering double figures -- have inevitably contributed to a loss of fluidity in coach Ange Postecoglou's side more generally.
Son has for so long been the difference-maker, often able to drag his team to victory whatever its shortcomings. He became the 14th player in Spurs' history to make 400 appearances for the club last year. He is fifth on the club's all-time goal-scoring chart (172) and is now tied 17th with Robbie Keane in the Premier League top 20 scorers with 126 goals.
He has not always been the go-to man of late, however. Since the beginning of December, Spurs have lost 11 of their 23 games. Against Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Arsenal he was substituted when Spurs needed at least one goal to get anything out of the game.
Against Newcastle United he was left on the bench from the start, as he was on Wednesday as Manchester City secured a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Just a few days earlier, Postecoglou described Son as "unplayable," such was his high quality in the win over Ipswich Town but he hinted at the need to manage Son's minutes despite having over a week until they play again.
How have Postecoglou's tactics impacted Son?
Postecoglou's teams are known for their high-intensity, high-pressing style and that suits Son. A source involved in the recruitment process which brought Son to Spurs from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015 told ESPN that his "incredible work rate on and off the ball" was a key factor in identifying him as a suitable signing.
Mauricio Pochettino, appointed as Spurs head coach a year earlier, had a similarly front-foot, aggressive playing style which required high levels of pace and stamina. Pochettino was keen on signing Son for his former club Southampton but could not find an agreement. In a sliding doors moment, sources say Spurs explored a deal with RB Leipzig for Sadio Mané in 2014 but failed to agree to terms and instead, a year later, they moved for Son.
Pochettino was succeeded by José Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte who all played a more defensive style prior to Postecoglou's appointment last summer. Yet the demands Postecoglou places on Son are noticeable when looking at his sprints per game.
In the three seasons prior to Postecoglou's arrival, Son averaged 19 sprints per league game. Last year, in Postecoglou's first campaign, that number when up to 24.5. That is a significant increase in demand, especially for a player who featured in 35 out of 38 games. Tiredness has inevitably been a factor this term as Spurs' depleted squad played 17 games across December and January.
"He tries to be a positive influence on everyone, keep everyone's mind focused in a positive way and it hasn't been easy because he has been feeling, the same as the other players, fatigue," Postecoglou told ESPN. "It's hard to put that to one side as an individual, because you're a leader and try to transfer that positiveness to others." He also provided 36% of the team's goal and assists in the Premier League -- but that number is down from the highs of 2020-21 (40%) and 2021-22 (43%) when both Son and Harry Kane were an incredibly efficient partnership in front of goal.
Is Son missing Kane the most?
When Kane made his return at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with Bayern Munich in an August friendly, he waited in the tunnel before kickoff and embraced several former teammates. There was a hug for Pedro Porro, one too for England teammate James Maddison. But the longest embrace was with Son, who rocked with him arm in arm before, for a lingering moment, he put his head on Kane's chest, just by his heart.
The pair were close friends on and off the pitch. Sources say they would sometimes share car journeys to and from training, especially when for a period the pair lived just a couple of minutes apart.
There is a case for arguing Kane's departure to Bayern in 2023 impacted Son more than any other player. After all, they were -- and remain -- the most prolific combination in Premier League history. With 47 goals, the duo yielded the most combined goals and assists in English football's modern era. Son scored 24 to Kane's 23 and together they are way out in front: Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard are next on the list with 36 goal combinations for Chelsea.
Son was often asked to deputise as a center-forward in Kane's absence and once the England captain left the club permanently, he took on that role more often. In 2023-24, 23 of his 34 league games began in attack but this season he has started more as left winger, with just three starts as a striker following the arrival of Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth and Richarlison's intermittent availability as he battles injury.
"Obviously we've played him down the middle but that's been needs based and he's always done a great job for us," said Postecoglou. "Out wide is where he is more comfortable."
Has he really stopped smiling? If so, why?
Son is an extremely dedicated professional and as club captain sources say he has taken the team's collective problems to heart.
"We speak to him after games and he hasn't been smiling and jolly with us for quite a long time now," journalist Rachel Hur, who works for Korean newspaper Sports Dong-A, told ESPN before Spurs beat Manchester United on Feb. 16. "Especially this season, I can't remember the last time he was his comfortable self. It is quite worrying."
The scrutiny on him is unrelenting. Almost every day at Tottenham's Hotspur Way training ground there are anywhere between 20 and 150 fans gathered at the entrance with shirts, banners and selfie ambitions, all for Son. It is highly unusual for one player -- especially after nine years at a club -- to garner such consistent attention.
Training ground sources say Son will, from time to time, stop to sign autographs from his car as he departs or, occasionally, a staff member will drive him down in a golf buggy to pose for pictures and sign autographs.
"Many Korean people have become Tottenham fans because of Son," said Hur. "Everyone wants to see him happy and enjoying his football. There are a lot of cameras on him and if he's looking a little bit sad, people start worrying what's happened to him.
"For Korean people, Manchester United used to be the most popular team because of Park Ji-Sung. Now it is Spurs. A lot of the country is worried about him and his form. For many years, they just want him to lift a trophy so he has something to show for his career."
Famously, Son has lived in north London with his father Son Woong-Jung, a former footballer himself, who presided over a strict upbringing which included coaching his boy to avoid the mistakes he made. Directives included four-hour sessions of keepy-uppies as a child. At the Son Football Academy in his hometown of Chuncheon, South Korea, which is run by his father, more than half of the children are over 15 years of age but none has been taught to shoot so as to not strain their knee muscles. Instead, they practice skills.
Few players show Son's dedication and discipline and, if anything, Spurs struggling this season will have encouraged him to try even harder. He has publicly admitted to struggling with insomnia earlier in his career. Spurs languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table in recent months has inevitably placed greater demands on the club's leadership group, spearheaded by Son.
"I think, him and some of the other guys have stepped up as well in this period," Postecoglou told ESPN. "The fact that the players have stuck together through that whole process, at no stage did they splinter off or look to absolve any responsibility of themselves as individuals is a testament to the fact that there's a good bonding there that's been laid down by Sonny and the other leaders."
His impact on the club's young players has been significant. Archie Gray, who joined Spurs last summer from Leeds United in a deal worth more than £40 million, told ESPN: "He's definitely a world-class player and as a person, he's probably one of the nicest guys I've ever met.
"Ever since I first moved to the club, he always sat down and had breakfast with me every morning which for a new player at the club -- you look at players like Sonny, [James Maddison], all of them in the squad to be fair -- you wouldn't really expect them to go out of their way to speak to the new 18-year-old who's just come from a Championship club. They've helped me settle in really well and everyone has been amazing with me."
What about his contract, and what does the future hold?
Son is not the sort of player to kick up a fuss, but sources have told ESPN there was a degree of disappointment on the player's side that talks over a new contract never took place. Instead, Spurs chose to trigger the one-year option in his existing agreement which now ties him to the club until the summer of 2026. It is the logical approach -- especially for a financially frugal club such as Tottenham -- to reevaluate in 12 months' time if all emotion is removed from the decision.
But that is difficult for many supporters where Son is concerned. He is the last surviving key member of Pochettino's team which reached the 2019 Champions League final. He formed one quarter of "DESK" -- the acronym by which attacking quartet Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Son and Kane were known.
Internationally, there is a World Cup on the horizon too. He is South Korea's captain and, unsurprisingly, takes that responsibility to heart too. After South Korea were all but certain to be knocked out of the 2018 World Cup with a group stage defeat to Mexico, Son cried when the country's president, Moon Jae-In, stopped by to visit the dressing room.
Second only to a major trophy with his country -- he led the U23s to Asian Games glory in 2018 -- would be the desire to win something with Tottenham. They have arguably looked further away than ever this season, although the Europa League offers a glimmer of hope for them to end a 17-year wait for silverware.
"We know the opportunity that we've got is golden, especially in the Europa League, with the squad we've got and people coming back from injuries, we know we can change that [trophy drought]," Gray told ESPN.
Winning a trophy as he marks a decade at Spurs could be the perfect way to sign off if he wanted a move, but Son has always kept his cards close to his chest.
"That's the one topic he hasn't opened up about, even before," said Hur. "When there's a contract situation, he rarely speaks about it. With the contract situation, it was half-and-half in Korea -- some wanted him to stay at Spurs, lift that trophy everyone wants and retire there -- but a lot of fans aren't happy with the way Spurs didn't offer him a longer deal.
"He's there next season, but a lot of people felt this is his one last chance of a long contract. There's a lot of talk about Barcelona too. We don't know how true that is of whether he has one more club in him."
Postecoglou thinks he could continue at the highest level for years to come, and Son's diligent focus off the field -- which extends to wearing specialized ice-pack trousers to help his muscles recover -- makes that eminently possible.
"You never want to try to predict with players like Sonny how long he will go for, because those kinds of players always defy whatever odds there are because of the way they look after themselves and conduct themselves," said Postecoglou. "Even this year, as difficult as it has been for us, I think his numbers still stack up. You weigh him up against any winger in the league, he's still going to be top five.
"He's probably been top five in the nine or 10 years he's been here. Not many would rank with Sonny in terms of output on a consistent basis from his position. He's top 10% of players in his position in the Premier League.
"Those are the facts and if he's continuing to do that, there's nothing to say he should slow down."
