Spurs could finally replace Son with the £68m signing of the World Cup star

Ever since Heung-min Son left Tottenham Hotspur last year it has been a complete whirlwind in the English capital.

Sonny went well. Sure, Spurs may have finished 17th in the Premier League but the Europa League winners’ medal was the least he deserved for all he had to offer the Londoners.

However, his going out was the cause, not of anything good, but because of the bad sea. The Lilywhites have had three managers since his departure, finishing 17th and breaking their transfer record to sign £100m Sandro Tonali. It’s been a rollercoaster.

Whether or not Roberto De Zerbi can sort out the mess around the club after Son’s departure is anyone’s guess, but he will need to address a number of problems that seem to be entrenched at this football club.

Why Spurs should sign a new player this summer

As when Harry Kane left Tottenham three years ago, it would not be easy to replace such a legendary figure. It probably won’t happen.

Replacing Son proved to be tricky, but with him getting thinner as he got older, it shouldn’t be too much of a climb to find a player capable of scoring goals on the flanks.

On paper, last summer’s recruitment didn’t look bad. They missed out on Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze but still signed one of Europe’s most promising young players in Xavi Simons and a proven Premier League figure in Mohammed Kudus.

Randal Kolo Muani has even joined on loan but it doesn’t mean it’s been a year, they really didn’t believe it. Simons was just getting up to speed before suffering a brutal ACL tear while Kudus was plagued with injuries for most of the season.

After scoring eight goals in 16 games for Juventus in 2024/25, Kolo Muani looked strong but his time in London was a disaster, conceding just five goals in 41 games.

Elsewhere, players like Wilson Odobert and Matys Tel also struggled, scoring six goals between them. Brennan Johnson was also sadly traded over the winter.

Based on all that, a winger is needed. They don’t have to be as good as Son – that would be a challenge to find – but it’s clear that after signing Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, they need to spend a lot of money to improve the front line.

How can Spurs end up replacing Son

Spurs have thrown the kitchen sink at the transfer window this summer and have come away with some incredibly interesting moves. However, the cherry on top of the cake will be a bunch of shiny new leads.

Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Kroupi is at the forefront of strengthening the attack but Bournemouth want north of £90m and are generally unwilling to sell him.

The story may be different for Benfica’s Andreas Schjelderup who looks more accessible this summer. Like Kroupi, he is one of the most exciting young players in Europe at the moment and has just come off a World Cup where he caught the eye of Norway, scoring a stunning but incredible goal against England in the quarter-finals.

His stock has risen due to his performances on the world stage with Benfica now valuing the winger at a price of £68m according to TEAMtalk. Spurs are one of the interested parties and ENIC officials are already in talks with the Portuguese side regarding a summer move.

Would he be worth it? Well, it’s a lot of money to pay but looking at the details tells you that this is an incredibly exciting winger with similar characteristics to the aforementioned Son.

Last season, Schjelderup scored ten goals and provided seven assists which aren’t jaw-dropping stats but there’s more to the Norwegian than that. Indeed, according to Scout Lab’s comparison tool, he is considered statistically similar to Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki, RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande and PSG’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in 2025/26.

Why? Yes, like all of them and like Son, he is one of the best ball carriers in Europe.

In his prime, Son was one of the most exciting wings in the world. He was electric, aggressive with his running. Few defenders had a chance to get the ball to him. He was making remarkable progress.

Schjelderup is cut from the same cloth. Last season, the 22-year-old made 1.96 shots per 90 minutes, enough to put him in the top 4% of similar players in Europe’s top five leagues in that metric.

He also ranked in the top 6 percent in dribble production at 0.88 per 90 and in the top 3 percent of the top 90 at 5.76.

The truth is that this young player’s handling and handling of the ball is amazing. Try and stop him at your peril; he’ll just skip right past you, like Sonny in his heyday.