Tottenham vs Dortmund: Jan Vertonghen says Son Heung-Min is one of the best players in Premier League

The South Korean scored another crucial goal for Spurs in the Champions League tie

Jan Vertonghen believes “special” Son Heung-Min is underestimated because of his selfless work rate, and believes the forward is one of the best players in the Premier League.

The South Korean scored another crucial goal for Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, hitting the first in their eventually emphatic 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last-16 first leg. It kept up a remarkable trend where Spurs have won every match in which Son has scored this season. That statistical quirk only emphasises his growing importance, and rise as a player.

“I’ve played with some great players and against some great players, and Sonny is special, he’s so humble and I think that you underestimate that because of the work he puts in, then his quality, outstanding left foot, right foot” Vertonghen said.

“He can play striker, left wing, right wing, he can play as a 10, he played as a wing-back here, so we feel each other there, but no, he’s an outstanding player. I’m not going to say he’s at the level of whoever, but he’s one of the best in the Premier League.”

Son’s enthusiasm also helps in the dressing room, Vertonghen explained.

“I’ve seen him stop smiling... I’m not going to say when! But, no, he’s a very happy guy. He’s so loved in the dressing room. He gets on with everyone and you can see why, he’s a great player to have around.”

The victory was just another for Spurs in this spell where they have suffered a spate of key injuries, most notably to Dele Alli and Harry Kane. Mauricio Pochettino believes they are “heroes” for coming through it and defying so many predictions they would fall away. Vertonghen says he could understand some of the latter, but that it was just the platform for Son to step up.

“In a way, you get that, because everyone knows how big of a player Harry is, how big of a player Dele is, so important for us, and to be fair we struggled a bit to kill games early in the Premier League, but we gave a chance to other players, the biggest example obviously is Sonny who has stepped up and scored so many goals since Harry got injured.

“I can think of a couple more, Fernando Llorente, another massive goal, and yeah, gives us the opportunity to see other people.”