Tottenham legend Heung-min Son sent a classy message of support to Newcastle United’s Park Seung-soo after the pre-season friendly in Seoul on Sunday.
Newcastle drew 1-1 with Spurs to finish their pre-season tour of Asia in what was likely to be Son’s final game for the north London club.
The South Korean international is set to leave Spurs after ten years at the club amid strong links with a move to American side Los Angeles FC.
Son was given an emotional farewell in Seoul, with supporters cheering his every touch and both sets of players embracing him when he left the pitch in the second half.
The 33-year-old is an icon of Korean football, but is hoping the likes of Newcastle youngster Seung-soo overtake him.
Park Seung-soo claps towards fans after Newcastle United's pre-season friendly against Tottenham.
Photo by Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images
Heung-min Son hopes Park Seung-soo will be better than he is
Naturally, the Spurs star was the centre of attention after the game.
Still, he was keen to suggest that he hopes Seung-soo and Tottenham’s Yang Min-hyeok become even better players than he has been over the course of his career.
“I didn’t say anything special to players like Yang Min-hyeok or Park Seung-soo,” he said (via Chosun Biz).
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“Since many fans are watching, I hope they become bigger players than I am.”
While Seung-soo has impressed Newcastle fans during his first few minutes in the team, that will be a tall order.
Park Seung-soo brought crashing down to earth after Newcastle United debut
The teenage forward only joined Newcastle earlier this summer but impressed on his debut against Team K-League earlier this week.
Seung-soo could leave Newcastle on loan this summer, although it remains to be seen just how impressed Eddie Howe has actually been.
There have certainly been promising touches, even if pre-season games are hard to conclusively judge.
Seung-soo admits he was told to work harder after his Newcastle debut, which is actually a reassuring message to hear.
Even in pre-season, it seems members of the Newcastle United squad are reminding the teenager of the demands of being an elite level footballer.