'Son Heung-min to remain with Tottenham,' says British media

Once surrounded by rumors linked to VfL Wolfsburg in the German Bundesliga, media reported that Son Heung-min will stay with Tottenham Hotspurs FC in the English Premier League as the transfer window is nearing a closing.

The British sports media Sky Sports reported on Tuesday that VfL Wolfsburg pushed ahead its plan to make a bid for Son at 25.6 million U.S. dollars, but was refused by Tottenham, adding that Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino still believes Son can play a vital role for the team."

German news outlets also forecasted that the transfer will not happen. The German daily Bild said that Son was priced too high to find common grounds between the two teams. It was known that Tottenham raised the transfer fee up to 38 million euros at the very last stage of negotiations. The final price was nearly 10 billion won (8.94 million dollars) higher than what Wolfsburg originally bid.

Even though Son stays with Tottenham, he will be met with fierce competition to be selected for the starting line-up. "We need a player that is more direct, a player that is more aggressive and offensive," Pochettino said before the recent reports, explaining that Tottenham is currently slow in speedy attacks, as players including Erik Lamela, Son and Christian Eriksen all show similar attacking patterns. Still, Eriksen and Lamela are continuously making the start line-up.

정윤철기자 trigger@donga.com