A future Asian star who could solve our striker issues

Heung-Min Son is a 22-year-old South Korean forward, currently signed to Bayer Leverkusen.  He came to Germany six years earlier as a youth player for Hamburger SV.  In 2010, he made his Bundesliga debut, 'breaking the duck' in his first match for HSV versus 1. FC Köln.  After three seasons for the fading club, he transferred to Leverkusen, where last season he posted his best numbers to date.

That is what is most impressive about Son, he not only has improved each season, he also seems to be adding weapons to his already abundant arsenal.  He has always possessed explosive pace, excellent ball control/passing skills, and a keen sense of awareness on attack, but now his 'specialized' passing and shot accuracy have improved significantly over the years.

Here are his 'regular stats' from the past four seasons:

	npg90	ap90	gc90	cc90	ccv	pass%	sdr90	tti90	gopd
2010-11	0.37	0.00	0.37	0.37	0.000	0.771	2.50	12.73	0.05
2011-12	0.37	0.07	0.44	1.03	0.071	0.784	2.79	11.54	0.35
2012-13	0.40	0.07	0.47	0.84	0.080	0.774	1.54	10.78	-0.15
2013-14	0.38	0.15	0.53	1.29	0.118	0.801	3.27	10.34	0.05

...and here are his 'specialized' passing and shot percentages:

	cr90	cr%	lb90	lb%	sacc%	shot%
2010-11	0.12	0.077	0.50	0.444	0.368	0.158
2011-12	0.22	0.273	0.74	0.625	0.306	0.139
2012-13	0.07	0.111	1.31	0.722	0.449	0.154
2013-14	0.65	0.309	1.25	0.805	0.458	0.120

He has improved each season in nearly every stat with his true turnover index 90 showing a maturation that I'm not sure if I've seen before.  His goal-scoring has been consistent, though he'll need to show  improvement there and in creating goals in general (assists) to reach the next level.  The 'specialized' passing I mentioned above, particularly his successful cross and long ball percentage from last season are already respectable rates, who knows how accurate he can become?  That's the thing, he has all-world potential, but he'll have to move to a bigger club with better players to reach it.

His last season with HSV makes this point.  They lost arguably their three best attacking players in Mladen Petric, Paolo Guerrero, and Gohkan Tore the summer prior.  Van Der Vaart and Artjom Rudnevs were added, but the damage was done.  Son had to become a major factor instead of fourth-choice on attack and even though he put up decent numbers, he was as unprepared as any 20-year-old you expect would be.  His move to Leverkusen gave him 'more room to breathe' and it showed in his performances.

Buying him now may be a bit premature, but I still think he'll excel in Rodgers' system with the likes of our players.  He is valued at around £12m, but Leverkusen would not even think about selling for any offer less than £20m.  Son is going to be good, possibly great at times, for the next 8-10 years, so as a long term investment that's pennies.  The odds of this happening though? Bleak to none.