Son Heung-min admits Tottenham team-mate Bentancur ‘almost cried’ in public apology to him as he faces SIX-MATCH BAN
SON HEUNG-MIN maintains there is no problem between himself and team-mate Rodrigo Bentancur – only love.
Midfielder Bentancur has been charged by the FA for his discriminatory comments about Son and faces a maximum punishment of a 12-game ban.
The 27-year-old was asked by a presenter on Uruguayan TV in June for a Tottenham shirt and replied: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”
He apologised to Son afterwards and is awaiting his fate, with the FA likely to recommend at least a six-match suspension to the regulatory commission that will hand down his sentence.
Spurs skipper Son, 32, said: “At the moment, there’s a process from the FA, that’s why I can’t say much about it. But I love Rodrigo, I love him.
“We have a lot of good memories, we started playing together when he joined.
“He apologised straight afterwards when we [were on] holiday.
“I was at home, I didn’t even realise what was going on. He just sent me a long message, and you could feel it was coming from his heart.
“When we came back to the training ground for pre-season, he was really sorry and he almost cried.
“He apologised in public and personally as well. It felt like he was really sorry. We’re all human, we make mistakes, we learn from it. I love Rodrigo, I love him, I love him.
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“He knows he made a mistake but I have no problem at all. We move on as a teammate, as a friend, as a brother. We move on together.”
Both Bentancur and Son could start Thursday’s Europa League opener against Azerbaijani side Qarabag.
Last season, Tottenham played just 41 games as they were not in Europe and crashed out of the cups early.
But they face an extended schedule this year and Son joined Manchester City star Rodri in speaking out against the dangers of a fixture overload.
The South Korean icon said: “We’re not robots. We have to look after that and reduce the games definitely – better quality definitely should be the aim.
“It’s normal that everyone is at high risk of injury. It’s not fair. Rodri said the right things. We play 50, 60 games and not more than 70 games. It’s not fair.”
Son is closing in on 10 years at Spurs but only feels he will earn “legend” status for the club if he wins a trophy.
His current deal expires at the end of this season, though SunSport understands Spurs will trigger an option to extend his deal until the summer of 2026.
Son discusses contract
When asked about his contract situation, Son replied: “We haven’t talked [about] anything yet.
“I’m just fully focused on this situation and this year. I just want to win something that everybody in this club and these players and all around deserves.
“That’s what I’m working for. In the future, you never know what’s going to happen.
“But I will make sure I give everything for this club. It’s almost ten years that I give everything.”
Cristian Romero is suspended for Thursday’s match, while Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon are ineligible.
It will be Ange Postecoglou’s maiden European game as Spurs boss. The Aussie added: “For us as a group it will be the first time, the squad has changed a lot in the last 12 months.
“I see it as a fantastic opportunity to evolve as a team in a footballing sense and hopefully gets us closer to our goal.”