Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou is confident that forward Son Heung-min can step up this season to help fill the void left by Harry Kane.
Son has enjoyed a superb start to the campaign, scoring eight times to sit joint-second in the goalscoring charts behind Manchester City forward Erling Haaland.
Last season proved challenging for Son with the South Korea forward only able to net 10 goals in the Premier League, but two years ago he won the division’s golden boot along with Liverpool’s Mohamad Salah and the 31-year-old has been backed to be in the race again.
Postecoglou initially played Richarlison in the middle of his front three, but switched Son into a central position against Burnley and it has helped the Spurs ace quickly move his overall Premier League tally onto 111 goals.
“It was quite obvious with Harry (Kane) leaving there was a couple of ways we could go about it,” Postecoglou reflected ahead of Monday’s visit of Chelsea.
“I don’t think you can replace Harry like-for-like. Another one of him doesn’t exist so for me to think let’s jump into the transfer market and bring in someone who can score 25 to 30 goals in the first year, I don’t think was realistic.
“What I did know about Sonny having followed him for a long time is he is a great finisher, a smart footballer, has great movement and a real capacity for working, pressing, the stuff I love my strikers to do.
“So, I just thought he would be a really good fit for us and it wasn’t the only option I was looking at, but it was definitely the one I thought would be the best fit for where we are as a team and what we needed.
“Even with him, I think the more he plays in there, the better he will get in terms of really being a goal threat in every game. For us it’s a massive asset to have.”
After Son fired blanks from his previously regular left forward role against Brentford, Manchester United and Bournemouth, he has netted eight goals in seven league fixtures as a central striker.
The long-serving Spurs player is no stranger to the role with Maurico Pochettino, who will return to Tottenham on Monday for the first time since his departure, deploying the attacker there whenever Kane was absent.
Son performed strongly as a centre forward during Spurs’ run to the Champions League final in 2019 with three goals in the quarter-finals against Man City, but ex-Australia boss Postecoglou did not use that as evidence when he first broached the idea of changing his position.
He pointed out: “Sonny scored against me in the Asian Cup in 2015, mate. That was enough.
“I saw enough then to know he is a decent goalscorer, so I didn’t need any more evidence.
“I have followed him for a very long time and what you are looking for in attacking players is are they a goal threat? And he’s always been a goal threat and a good finisher.”
