In The Money: Son Heung-Min wages to be wasted as Tottenham absence set
Tottenham fans have been able to forget about Harry Kane quite quickly this season, with Son Heung-Min stepping up to another level after his departure to Bayern Munich.
Ange Postecoglou quickly made the South Korean superstar his captain, and he has been rewarded with some sensational performances to push Spurs forward.
Despite that excitement, a fairly large speed bump is quickly approaching in North London, with the Asia Cup set to strip the club of their main asset in the Premier League.
Son is potentially set to fly out to Asia after the December 31 clash against Bournemouth, joining up with his international teammates in Abu Dhabi.
That means that the skipper could miss the third and fourth rounds of the FA Cup, as well as some crucial Premier League games such as Manchester United at Old Trafford.
South Korea don’t play their first game until January 15, but the training could start way before that with no set date in place for his departure, but if they go all the way, Son could be missing until the final on February 10.
One man who will be watching very closely is Daniel Levy.
Son is now likely the highest earner at Tottenham after the departure of Kane, with his wages in the 2022-23 season sitting at £192,000-a-week, with that deal running until 2025 [The Sun].
The Telegraph has since reported that there is the option to extend that contract by an extra year, something that Spurs are set to trigger soon, with it unknown if that increases his wages too.
Working on the initial £192,000-a-week figure, Spurs and Levy could effectively be wasting £768,000 on wages alone if Son is away for four weeks.
Of course, Postecoglou won’t see it like that and will just want his star man back as soon as possible, but it is interesting to see the effect of these mid-season tournaments, with the African Cup of Nations also running at the same time.
With Yves Bissouma [£75,251-a-week], and Pape Sarr [£14,047-a-week] also set to be absent, that would take the wasted costs likely above £1million.
Levy will not be happy, but there is absolutely nothing he can do about it and neither can Tottenham.
In other Tottenham news, a BBC pundit is thrilled with this £11million-plus commitment by the club