Son Heung-min has admitted that he has almost fully recovered from the sports hernia injury he was carrying for much of last season and remarked that he is keen to get back to his best.
Even though Son netted 14 goals and registered six assists across all competitions in 2022-23, which would represent a very good output for most wide-forwards in world football, the Tottenham man fell short of the extremely high standards he has set for himself over the years.
Just days after last season came to an end, the 31-year-old flew to his home country to undergo an operation to fix his sports hernia (Korea Herald), with the forward subsequently admitting to playing with pain for much of the campaign (Sungmo Lee).
Heung-min Son is almost pain-free now at Spurs
The South Korean has now stated that he is pleased with how things have been going in pre-season and that he is determined to give a good account of himself.
Son told Korean news outlet Sports Chosun: “I think everything is going great. It’s a fresh start compared to last year. I was a bit worried because the circumstances changed a lot after the end of the season.
“But I think the start of the season is going great. My condition recovered a lot, and I hope to show great performances once the season starts.”
The Spurs star admitted that Sunday’s clash against Shakhtar Donetsk was the first time in a long time that he has come through a game without feeling any pain.
He said following Tottenham’s 5-1 win against the Ukrainian side: “I think I’ve almost fully recovered now. For the first time in a while.
“My form while running actually changed because of the pain from the hernia, as I thought about how to minimize pain while running. But that often led to pain in other parts of the body.
“These issues have become better as I strike the balance, with minor pain issues going away. I’m happy because I didn’t feel any pain while playing in today’s game, which hasn’t happened for a while.
“There’s only a week left until the start of the season, and I hope to further improve my conditioning so I can play a great game on Sunday.”
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So far in pre-season, it is visible that Son is still a little hesitant to turn on the afterburners and run at players, which is only natural, given that the forward has played with pain for a while. The 31-year-old will grow in confidence with each game that he gets under his belt.