Tottenham Hotspur star Eric Dier has hailed the impact that team-mate Son Heung-min had last season and praised the South Korean attacker as a ‘fantastic player’.
Spurs were propelled to second place in the Premier League in 2016-17 thanks to a devastating attacking unit that was virtually unplayable when in the mood.
Son overcame an inconsistent first season in English football after a move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2015 and played a major role for Tottenham last term.
The 24-year-old netted an excellent 21 goals in all competitions, while his versatility was also a key aspect for Mauricio Pochettino’s men.
Dier has been quick to sing Son’s praises – and has challenged him to improve even further next season.
“I’m really happy for him because he had a difficult time in his first season adapting to everything,” the England international told Tottenham’s official website.
“I think he had good spells and bad spells but you could always see his quality.
“He’s a fantastic player with a lot of quality and it’s great that last season he was able to show that, so credit to him – he kept going, kept working hard and now he’s reaping the rewards so everyone’s very happy for him.
“I hope he can build on this now. He’s a fantastic player, he’s got so much quality, he’s quick, strong, can dribble, can shoot with both feet so he’s got a bit of everything and it’s up to him now really if he wants to push on again to another level.”
Son deputised well as the furthest man forward when Harry Kane was injured but was most commonly used from one of the flanks.
His energy, work-rate and quality on the ball were important elements of Tottenham’s attacking play and the South Korean will be a critical star as Spurs return to action in 2017-18.
Son’s excellent performances nullified the impact of Erik Lamela’s ongoing absence and made him virtually undroppable in the second half of the campaign.
The forward recently broke his arm on international duty in a blow for the 24-year-old and as such faces a race against time to be fit for the start of next season.