‘I try to improve him’ – Conte on working with ‘world-class’ Heung-min Son

Antonio Conte has hailed Son Heung-min’s quality as well as the hunger he has to keep improving as a player.

From the outside, Son certainly appears to be a manager’s dream in terms of his attitude, ability and his willingness to work for the team.

The South Korean has thrived under all the different styles of managers Tottenham have had over recent years and the 29-year-old has certainly made a good start to life under Conte.

The forward has scored four goals since the Italian’s arrival in North London, three of which have come in the Premier League.

Whether Conte plays a 3-4-3 or a 3-5-2, Son certainly has a crucial role to play, given his quality in the final third and his tireless running off the ball.

The Tottenham head coach admitted that while Son is already a top player, he believes the forward can improve even further.

The 52-year-old also praised the willingness that the long-serving Tottenham man has to keep getting better.

Conte told Football.London about Son: “We are talking about a really world-class player.

“I have seen him before becoming manager of Tottenham only on TV. He impressed me a lot. But when you have the possibility to train him and become his coach, you can see really the quality of this player.

“It’s fantastic because he had quality but also run, intensity, the resilience also, and I think that Sonny is a top player. Not a good player – a top player.

“For sure I try to improve him, to help him, but we are talking about a player that is now already at an important level. He has to continue in this way and have this hunger, this desire, because we need to have players with ambition.

“If you have ambition it means you are never happy about your performance. You want always more, more, more and we need these players to improve the level of Tottenham. Sonny is one of these players.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I am sure Conte will be relishing working with Son and Kane. Not only are they both world-class players but both players are willing to put the team first. That is not a trait that one always finds with world-class forwards as they generally tend to be a little selfish.

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