The Korea JoongAng Daily

PAIK JI-HWAN

PAIK JI-HWAN

JIM BULLEY

JIM BULLEY

PAIK JI-HWAN

PAIK JI-HWAN

PAIK JI-HWAN

PAIK JI-HWAN

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou said Wednesday that he hopes new signee Yang Min-hyuk will “grow with the team and break through,” adding that the young player is likely to see his opportunities in the ongoing 2024-25 season.

Speaking at a press conference at Hotspur Way in London on Wednesday, Postecoglou spoke about the team’s two 18-year-old players, Archie Gray and Yang.

“What you want is hopefully those 18-year-olds, not all of them but you want the majority of them to start growing with the team and breaking through, so there is a longer term view which has to be taken from a team and squad perspective,” Postecoglou said. “We have gone heavy on the younger ages but that is a deliberate process because we're at the start of a cycle. If you're closer to where you want to be and two or three years into it, you're less likely to because then you are denying them opportunities. What we're hoping is, we're bringing them in but they'll still get opportunities at this point of where we're at.

“Again, the flip side of that is with Yang, 18-year-old coming from a totally different part of the world, different league and it's a massive step then say Archie doing it from Championship to Premier League, so we have to be mindful of what impact we expect from someone like that.”

Yang signed with Spurs in July, becoming the youngest Korean player to join a Premier League team at 18 years and 103 days old.

He is yet to start training with the club, Postecoglou said, but is expected to join soon.

"No, he hasn't arrived yet, Postecoglou said. "He'll have some time off. Their league finishes and I haven't spoken to the guys lately but I know he is keen to get over here and we'll get him over here. I remember with Celtic, we signed a couple of lads from Japan and Korea and middle to late December they joined us and it was good leading into January for those guys."

Postecoglou signed Korean midfielder Oh Hyeon-gyu to Celtic in January 2023. Postecoglou left the Scottish club the following summer, while Oh moved to Genk earlier this year.

Yang — whose name is often also spelt Min-hyeok, the same word in Korean but with different romanization — joins Spurs on the back of an impressive run with Gangwon in the 2024 season during which he racked up 12 goals and six assists in 38 league fixtures.

The 2024 season was his first season as a pro player, as Gangwon had him signed to a semi-pro contract at the start of the season, but signed him a professional deal in June.

Yang has never played overseas before, but still faced Tottenham as an opponent during a Coupang Play Series — an exhibition game series by Korean e-commerce company Coupang — between Team K League and Spurs in July, as he made it onto Team K League, the squad consisting of K League players picked by fans and coaches.

The 18-year-old winger will be joining countryman Son Heung-min at Spurs, who sit in eighth place on the 20-team Premier League table as of Thursday.

Before leaving Korea, Yang was supposed to cap off his Gangwon career with a farewell ceremony in Chuncheon — coincidentally Son's hometown — in Gangwon on Thursday. The event and a street parade for the team were both canceled after President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly placed Korea under martial law earlier in the week.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]

PAIK JI-HWAN

paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-0 to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday in the absence of injured captain Son Heung-min.

A goal from Jean-Philippe Mateta in the 31st minute turned out to be the winner at Selhurst Park in London, sealing Crystal Palace’s first league win of the season.

Crystal Palace now sit in 17th place with one win, three draws and five losses, while Spurs are in eighth with four wins, one draw and four losses.

Son was not in the squad for Sunday’s match, as he has yet to fully recover from the injury he picked up during a Europa League game against Qarabag FK on Sept. 26.

He returned for the league fixture against West Ham on Oct. 19 and scored a goal, but Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou opted to exclude him from the match day squad for the Crystal Palace game as Son was not “feeling 100 percent.”

Speaking at a pregame press conference on Saturday ahead of the Crystal Palace game, Postecoglou said Son’s return was “getting closer” and expressed hope that his captain would be back in training next week.

Son’s prolonged injury comes ahead of the November international break, during which the Korean national team will play 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Kuwait and Palestine.

Son was omitted from the national team squad for the October fixtures due to his injury, with Mainz midfielder Hong Hyun-seok replacing him.

Despite the Tottenham captain’s absence, however, Korea picked up wins against Jordan and Iraq earlier this month with a more cohesive performance under manager Hong Myung-bo, leaving Korea topping Group B of the third qualifying round.

Until Hong announces his squad for the upcoming qualifiers on Nov. 14 and 19, Spurs will have a busy schedule in the coming days with their next match against reigning Premier League champions Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, followed by a league match against Aston Villa on Sunday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]

Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean star Son Heung-min scored in his return to Premier League action Saturday.

Son scored his third goal of the season in a 4-1 victory against West Ham United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Following a fast break at the hour mark, Son took a pass from Pape Sarr on the left side of the box and scored off his left foot to give Spurs their fourth goal.

About a minute later, Son struck the right post with a right-footed shot. In the 55th minute, Son had a hand in an own goal by Alphonse Areola that gave Spurs a 3-1 lead.

Son had missed the past three Spurs matches, including two in the Premier League, after suffering a hamstring injury during a UEFA Europa League match on Sept. 26.

Son was also dropped from the Korean national team for World Cup qualifying matches against Jordan and Iraq this month. Without their captain, Korea defeated Jordan 2-0 in Amman on Oct. 10 and then Iraq 3-2 at home five days later.

Spurs improved to 13 points after eight matches, good for sixth place with all five clubs above them scheduled to play their eighth matches later on the weekend.

Yonhap