“I love to play for liverpool…….Son Heung-min admitted that rejecting Jurgen Klopp’s offer was his “biggest mistake in life”

Son Heung-min has a strong scoring record against Liverpool and earlier in his career, he declined the chance to join Jurgen Klopp’s team

Liverpool would have won the Premier League last season if not for Son Heung-min.

The South Korean, who tied Mohamed Salah for the Golden Boot with 23 goals, scored both at home and away against the Reds as they drew 2-2 in North London and 1-1 at Anfield. A single point separated Jurgen Klopp’s team from Manchester City in the race for the championship after the second meeting, which occurred in May.

Son, who scored a late equalizer against Liverpool in December, would later cancel off Luis Diaz’s opening goal to share the victory. The extra two points would have given the Reds the title of Premier League winners even without either strike.

With Son’s strikes not the only pivotal moments you may look back on in retrospect, of course, this is all ifs and buts.

What if Liverpool had defeated Chelsea in August by utilizing Reece James’ red card that came just before halftime?

What if they hadn’t given up the lead twice in their 2-2 home tie with Man City or their 3-3 tie with Brentford? What if they hadn’t blown two-goal leads in their 2-2 draws against Chelsea and Brighton at home?

What if Salah hadn’t missed a penalty in their 1-0 loss away at Leicester City or if Harry Kane hadn’t been dismissed in their 2-2 draw with Spurs?

What if VAR had awarded Everton a penalty against Man City for Rodri’s handball as Pep Guardiola’s men recorded a narrow 1-0 win? And what if Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa had held onto their 2-0 lead away at Man City on the final day of the season, rather than fall to a 3-2 defeat?

So many sliding doors moments that could have resulted in the Premier League season finishing differently for Liverpool. Yet the fact there were so many highlight the small margins that proved costly for the Reds in a campaign where near-perfection was required to topple Man City.

Even though it was difficult to swallow missing out on the championship by a point for the second time in four years, Klopp’s team can actually make few complaints about their second-place showing. especially when, in the middle of January, despite having two games left, they were forced to make up a deficit as large as 14 points.

Because of this, the only slight resentment Liverpool might have with regard to the points lost at Anfield due to Son’s error is that, had they succeeded in doing so, they would have put even more pressure on City in those closing games of the season. But as Guardiola’s team showed with their late comeback against Villa and their most recent title challenge against Arsenal, they don’t often falter no matter what the stakes are.

Nevertheless, Klopp has some justification for not wanting to see the South Korean forward for Spurs. He had, after all, scored four goals in his last eight Premier League matches against Liverpool while tallying five in his previous five matches against Borussia Dortmund of Germany.

While he would go undefeated against Klopp in the Bundesliga while playing for Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen, it’s a different story when it comes to his encounters with the Reds.

In 13 meetings with Liverpool, Son has only once come out on top against Klopp’s Reds in Spurs’ historic 4-1 triumph in October 2017—a game in which he scored. Naturally, a run like that also includes Tottenham’s loss in the 2019 Champions League final.

The South Korean is still a danger, and if he continues his scoring streak at Anfield on Sunday, it may seriously harm Klopp’s teams’ chances of qualifying for Europe. He has nine goals from 16 starts in all competitions versus Klopp’s teams. And one that the German is aware is virtually impossible to halt.

Before the encounter on Sunday, Klopp told reporters, “I will be ready for the best possible Tottenham side. For a while, they were easily the strongest counterattacking squad in Europe.

“When you lost the ball, all they needed to do was find Harry Kane, and the next second Son was up against the goaltender. No idea how to defend that effectively, best way to keep the ball.

Is it any surprise, then, that Klopp wishes he had acquired Son earlier in his career?

Son Heung-min’s non-signing was one of his life’s worst blunders, he said to Korean news outlet KBS News in November. Outstanding athlete. One of the best attackers in the world, he is magnificent and a symbol of Korean football.

In 2013, when Son departed Hamburg for Bayer Leverkusen in a €10 million deal, the German was unsuccessful in acquiring the forward for Borussia Dortmund.

I desired to remain in the Bundesliga. In a later interview, the South Korean recalled that Leverkusen and Dortmund were interested in him. Both teams compete in the Champions League, but I had predicted that Dortmund would rotate its players more than Leverkusen.

“For that reason, I selected Leverkusen over Dortmund. At my age, playing frequently is incredibly vital.

He would move for Spurs for £22 million two years later, the same summer that Klopp left the Bundesliga, after scoring 29 goals in two seasons for Leverkusen. He has 144 goals from 367 games over eight seasons, making him a legendary player in the Tottenham Premier League. Crucially, there are no awards.

Liverpool has intermittently been linked with Son’s services over the years because of Klopp’s respect for him. But that ship seems to have long since sailed at 30 years old.

Liverpool won’t have any regrets, though the German may view it as one of his “biggest mistakes” for passing up on the South Korean. Son is, after all, the same age as their renowned, now-demolished offensive trinity of Salah, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino.

The same summer that Son moved from the Bundesliga to the Premier League, Firmino would follow suit by signing for Liverpool for £29 million from Hoffenheim. After a sluggish beginning, partially brought on by an injury, the forward was given new life when Klopp became manager in October 2015 and received the Brazilian. Since that time, he hasn’t looked back.

The 31-year-old, who is officially leaving Anfield this summer when his contract expires, has made 360 appearances for the Reds and has tallied 109 goals and 72 assists.

Mane was acquired from Southampton in the summer of 2016 for £34 million. In the past, Klopp attempted to bring the Senegalese to Dortmund, just as he did with Son, but ultimately decided against the move. Later, he would acknowledge that he should have punched himself for making such a choice, but he made sure to atone for his error at Anfield by making reparations for the South Korean once the 31-year-old became available.

Before leaving for Bayern Munich in a £35 million transfer last year, Mane had 269 appearances for Liverpool during which he scored 120 goals and contributed 38 assists.

While Salah joined Liverpool for £43.9 million in the summer of 2017. With 299 games played and 183 goals and 69 assists, the 30-year-old is currently recognized as one of the finest players in the history of the team.

The group would contribute to the Reds’ under Klopp changing fortunes. Liverpool’s metamorphosis into one of Europe’s top teams was aided by the signing of Salah in addition to Firmino and Mane, who would help Liverpool win back their place in the Champions League.

As the Reds were crowned champions of England, Europe, and the world under Klopp, all three would take home every major award available to them.

To be honest, if you’re being ungrateful, you could be excused for wondering what else Liverpool may have accomplished had Son’s skills been available to supplement their unstoppable front line at the time. After all, he is undoubtedly a player who meets Klopp’s requirements.

However, Kopites have never had to consider what might have been in regards to the South Korean, aside from a few admiring looks of their own. They couldn’t be happier with the cards Liverpool was handed.

Given his lack of awards compared to his Reds teammates, Son is the only one who can say if he has any personal regrets. However, it should be noted that even if he hadn’t declined Klopp and Dortmund’s advances in 2013, it doesn’t necessarily follow that he would have followed the German to Anfield.

Determining whether Klopp would have renewed interest in Son’s services after his own arrival at Anfield is also impossible if he had not departed Leverkusen at the time he did. It’s all ifs and buts right now, just like the South Korean’s influence on Liverpool’s title run last year.

Son might be a big mistake for Klopp but there are no Reds regrets. The South Korean could have potentially been part of this Anfield story, but instead he is just an admired foe, watching on from afar as Liverpool won everything there is to win, with Europe’s biggest prize even coming at his expense.

In other news,(Video) Watch: Roberto Firmino comes on to score a crucial goal for Liverpool in his last game at Anfield