LEVERKUSEN -- Tottenham forward Son Heung-Min says former Premier League stars Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rafael van der Vaart helped him to become a success in European football.
Son, 24, moved to Hamburg from Seoul as a 16-year-old and spent seven years in Germany, joining Bayer Leverkusen in 2013. Within six months of leaving home, he had learned German but he was homesick and without his parents, who now live with him in North London.
In January 2010, when Son was 17, Van Nistelrooy arrived at Hamburg from Real Madrid and recognised the South Korean's potential in his first training session.