‘Biggest mistake in my life’ – Son Heung-min eyes Liverpool again after rejecting Jurgen Klopp

As the clash with Tottenham Hotspur looms for Liverpool this Sunday, the Reds find themselves with more than a few things to worry about. Notwithstanding, one particular piece of midweek news starkly reminded them of an absence of a major threat in the north London team.

Harry Kane, now in flying form with a tally of 43 goals from equal number of outings since his transfer to Germany last summer, bulged the net with a penalty contributing to Bayern Munich’s 2-2 draw in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final match against Real Madrid on their home turf.

READ ALSO: Champions League: You’re no longer untouchable – Conte warns Son Heung-Min

Undoubtedly, Liverpool breathed a sigh of relief with Kane’s departure last summer. After all, he was responsible for nine goals in his 16 appearances against Liverpool during his stint with Tottenham and, even though only one game ended up in Tottenham’s favour, each occasion painted him as a formidable adversary.

Nevertheless, Kane wasn’t the singular threat looming large, and the presence of Son Heung-Min, Kane’s erstwhile teammate and a player who has consistently delivered top-notch performances, may yet cause sleepless nights for the Reds. Son, it is fair to say, instils palpable dread in Liverpool and their soon-to-depart manager, Jurgen Klopp, every time they face him.

The South Korean forward has been instrumental in adding five goals in his recent six Premier League appearances against the Reds to his overall count of six goals from 14 matches representing Spurs, reports the Mirror. He also boasts of five goals from the same number of starts against Klop’s Borussia Dortmund team.

Even though Son never faced defeat while squaring off against Klopp in the Bundesliga when he played for Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen, his confrontations with the Reds tell another tale altogether. Son has only seen his Spurs side triumph over Liverpool on two occasions, with a standout 4-1 victory at Wembley in October 2017 and a controversial 2-1 win at home in September. On both occasions, he managed to score.

Ahead of a previous season’s match against Tottenham, the Liverpool manager expressed his respect for Spurs’ capabilities: “I will be prepared for the best possible Tottenham side,” he said. “They were, for some years, by some distance the best counter-attacking team in Europe.

“There were moments when you lost the ball, they only had to find Harry Kane and the next moment Son was in a one v one situation with the goalie. No clue how to defend that properly, best way not to lose the ball.”

It’s no shock then that Klopp regrets not snapping up Son Heung-min earlier. “One of the biggest mistakes in my life is not signing Son Heung-min,” he admitted to KBS News in November 2021. “Outstanding player. He is fantastic, a sign of Korean football and one of the best strikers in the world.”

Back in 2013, Klopp missed the chance to bring Son to Dortmund, as the South Korean star opted for a switch to Leverkusen instead. Reflecting on his decision, Son explained his thought process: “I wanted to stay in the Bundesliga. Leverkusen and Dortmund wanted me,” he noted.