Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham Hotspur will contact the club late on the availability of captain Son Heung-min ahead of Sunday’s Premier League match against Manchester United.
Son Sung-sung suffered a hamstring strain during Thursday’s Europa League match against Qarabag at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and was substituted in the 71st minute. Dominic Solanke received medical treatment on the pitch shortly after scoring Tottenham’s third goal and was replaced by Timo Werner.
“It’s still early days since last night,” Postecoglou said Friday. “The players who started their shift were pretty tired.
“Everyone is safe except Sonny. And I don’t think Sonny is too bad. He wants to train tomorrow, so we’ll see how he goes in training tomorrow and make a decision from there. We will do our best one more day to give it every chance.”
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Son last missed a Spurs game due to injury in November 2022, when he was sidelined with a fractured orbit.
The 32-year-old has played seven games in all competitions this season, scoring two goals and providing two assists. He was the club’s top scorer last season with 17 goals in all competitions.
Speaking to the media ahead of Thursday’s Europa League opener, Son said his existing contract is due to expire in 2025 and that he and the club have not yet discussed a contract.
Commenting on the forward’s signing, Postecoglou added: Look, I think this is part of a wider discussion around Sonny, but given his performances at the moment and the way he’s led the club, I’d like him to stay for a while.
Asked if Son’s workload will need to be managed in the future, Postecoglou said: We wanted to lighten his workload at the beginning of the year, but we lost Wilson (Odbert), Richie (Richarlison) and Dominic (Solanke). In soccer, it’s always the type of injury that matters, not the amount.
“He’s played above and beyond what I expected. The idea of signing Dom, bringing in Wilson and extending Timo’s loan was a great idea because he has experience in international football and we’re looking forward to getting him. It was just to help manage the load a little bit better. That’s what I’m aware of, and that’s just the way things have been. Sonny always wants to play. That’s his attitude. we have to be sensible.
“I don’t think it has much to do with his age because I haven’t seen it affect him. If anything, I don’t think the workload of the game is sustainable these days. We’ve talked a lot about match overload, and I think I said it last week, but while the calendar is like this, part of the responsibility is on us to protect our players. Certainly Sony and we will have to keep that in mind.”
Spurs won 3-0 against Qarabag on Thursday despite an early red card for Radu Dragusin.
Postecoglou’s side are 10th in the Premier League with seven points from their opening five games. Meanwhile, United are in 11th place, the same result as the North London side. This week they also played in the Europa League, drawing 1-1 at home with FC Twente.
(Warren Little/Getty Images)
