Tottenham’s Son Heung-min’s seven statistics that prove he is the best player in Europe right now
Tottenham winger ranked ahead of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne and Neymar in key areas
THESE are the seven statistics that prove Son Heung-min is the best player in Europe right now.
The Spurs midfielder netted a double on the weekend as Mauricio Pochettino's men downed Middlesbrough - after he had to be talked out of leaving White Hart Lane.
And it is Son's four goals in three league appearances so far this season that have in part ranked him above the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin De Bruyne, according to whoscored.com.
Here are the keys to Son's dominance so far this season as Spurs enjoy their best start for 51 years.
Four goals in three appearances
Those figures speak for themselves and show a player bang in form.
Son bagged two in his first showing this season - the 4-0 hammering of Stoke earlier this month.
He was on target again against Aitor Karanka's side on Saturday and showed flair in burying his chances.
The first came after he twice dropped his shoulder en route to fooling the helpless Boro backline and the second was a sizzling finish from the edge of the box which left Victor Valdes glued to the spot.
When he's not scoring, he's providing his team-mates
Of Spurs' ten league goals so far this season, Son has played a part in half of them.
We've covered the four goals, but in the win over Stoke he also provided the assist for Harry Kane.
On top of that, he could easily have been awarded a penalty after being tripped by Geoff Cameron.
Yellow cards and red cards
He's got none of either. Keep it clean.
His shots-per-game ratio shows he's not afraid to take a chance
And why should he be?
Son's confidence will be sky high and he has reinforced the faith Poch showed in him.
The South Korean takes 4.7 shots a game, just one fewer than Messi and only slightly behind Man City striker Sergio Aguero.
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Just last month Son asked to be sold but the Spurs boss convinced him. What a wise move that proved.
For a slight man, he's decent in the air
Son, 24, has won 0.3 per cent of his aerial duels and while this is a small number it shows he's not afraid to get stuck in and challenge physically to win the ball.
By way of comparison, Toni Kroos, Tom Huddlestone and powerfully built Wilfried Zaha have been less successful.
Three games... twice man of the match
You cannot argue with those results.
In Spurs' best start to a season in more than 50 years their key player so far has been Son.
No wonder Pochettino, after Saturday's win, said: "It is difficult for all the players who come from outside England because the Premier League is the toughest league in the world and they need time to settle.
"After one year and the summer he is a different person - he's more mature and he knows the league and he's settled in fantastically now. When a front player scores goals it is easy for him to settle."
