Former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino thinks there is a high chance Son Heung-min would no longer be a Spurs player if he had not been allowed to play in the Asian Games last season.
The South Korean star was released by his club for the beginning of the previous campaign even though they were under no obligation to do so, and Son missed the three opening games of the Premier League season as well as further matches in January due to the Asian Cup.
And speaking to the High Performance Podcast, Pochettino stated his belief that Son would have demanded to leave Spurs if he were not allowed to represent his country.
"With Harry Kane injured, Son not playing the first few months because of the Asian Games, no one talks about that," Pochettino said.
"Today, Sonny is at Tottenham because we allowed him to go and play two competitions that weren’t compulsory, not being selfish and saying, ‘No, Sonny needs to stay here’.
"Because of the club. If not, two years and you need to stop the contract with Son.
"No one says anything about that. It was our decision to provide him the time to go."
There were suggestions that Pochettino's motivation at Spurs dropped following their defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League final last season, but the 48-year-old - who is still without a club following his sacking in November - insisted that was not the case.
"Monday (after the Final), I was thinking to build again, because when you are so competitive and you are a winner, you are not stuck in the past," he added. "You lose, but you want to win again tomorrow.
"I wasn’t knocked because we didn’t win the Final, we wanted to take a massive experience for us, learn and be ready again for the next season. We were fighting for the top four at the same time we were fighting to be in the Champions League Final."
.jpg?w=600)
