Son Heung-min's Journey: From Rejecting MLS to Embracing LAFC
Son Heung-min admits it now: when Los Angeles FC first came calling, he barely gave them a second thought.
Sitting comfortably in London, still a star at Tottenham Hotspur and a proven force in the Premier League, the idea of swapping England’s intensity for Major League Soccer did not appeal to him at all. To him, MLS looked like the last stop, a place where big names eased into retirement rather than chased new peaks.
“I thought, ‘Why would I go to MLS already? I’m definitely not going,’” Son recalled on the podcast “The Late Run,” whose latest episode dropped Friday.
For a player who broke through at Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga and then became one of the Premier League’s most feared forwards, that skepticism made sense. He had spent his entire career in Europe’s elite competitions, leagues routinely described as the best in the world. MLS, from a distance, felt a step down.
The story changed when his Tottenham contract began to run down.
A new challenge, not a farewell tour
With one year left on his deal at Spurs, Son felt something shift. Ten years in North London had brought goals, acclaim and captaincy, but also a sense that he needed a different kind of test.
“When I had one year left on my contract, I felt that I needed a new challenge,” he said.
That was when LAFC’s long-standing interest turned from background noise into a real option. His agent pushed him to at least listen. A Zoom call was arranged. Son joined the meeting expecting a routine pitch. Instead, he heard a club that had tracked him for years and built a detailed case for why he should lead their project.
“I realized that LAFC had been following me for a long time, and I could feel how genuine their interest was,” Son said. “That made me decide to move.”
The decision stunned plenty of observers in South Korea and abroad. Son was still widely viewed as good enough to remain in Europe’s top five leagues. His move last summer from Tottenham to LAFC was read by some as an early exit from the game’s sharpest edge.
Son does not see it that way. For him, it was about timing and ambition, not winding down.
MLS up close: packed stands and fresh responsibility
If his perception of MLS from Europe was dismissive, the reality on arrival in Los Angeles jolted him.
“I didn’t know much about MLS before coming here, but I was surprised and happy to see the stadiums packed for every game,” he said.
The full houses, the noise, the energy — they challenged his old assumptions. This was not a sleepy league for fading stars. It was a competition trying to ride the wave of football’s growing popularity in North America, especially after recent World Cups.
“After the World Cup, it is now the responsibility of the players and the league to keep that momentum going,” Son added.
That sense of duty now shapes his role in Los Angeles. He is not just a marquee signing or a marketing asset; he is one of the players expected to raise standards, draw eyes and keep MLS pushing forward.
From turning down MLS in his head to embracing LAFC on the pitch, Son’s journey is less about stepping away from the spotlight and more about choosing where he wants to shine next.
