Joining Los Angeles FC is about to come! Record transfer fee + annual salary, Son Heung-min becomes the new "Western Hemisphere King"

Son Heung-min flew to Los Angeles, USA via Incheon International Airport on August 5.

Written by Hanbing On August 3 in Seoul, Son Heung-min completed the farewell match for Tottenham Hotspur. Two days later, on August 5, he flew from Incheon International Airport to Los Angeles and started a new career. ESPN revealed that as early as August 6, Son Heung-min will officially announce his joining Los Angeles FC in the North American Major League. British and American media disclosed that Son Heung-min's transfer fee is up to 20 million pounds (equivalent to US$26.55 million), which not only broke the North American Major League transfer fee record (US$22 million), but also exceeded the Western Hemisphere transfer fee record (US$26.45 million) set by Rock joining Palmeiras at the beginning of this year, becoming the new "Western Hemisphere King" with a slight advantage.

Son Heung-min will tie for the second-largest major leagues with former Barcelona midfielder Phuket (20 million euros), second only to De Paul, who just joined Miami International. Son Heung-min will receive the second highest annual salary of $20 million before tax, second only to Messi ($20.4 million). His annual salary is also higher than that of Santos' Neymar ($9 million), and is also the second highest annual salary in the Western Hemisphere. South Korean media said that Son Heung-min chose Los Angeles FC, in addition to adapting to the US environment one year in advance to maintain the status of the World Cup, also because Los Angeles has the largest Korean immigrant community in the United States (about 320,000 people). Los Angeles FC has been secretly operating for several months in order to sign Son Heung-min. With record transfer fees and annual salary expenses, we naturally hope that Son Heung-min can bring unprecedented business and popularity value like Messi.

Argentine midfielder Thiago Almeida was originally the "king of the Western Hemisphere". When he joined Botafogo in July 2024, the total transfer fee was US$30 million (21 million + 9 million). However, he joined Ligue 1 Lyon on loan at the end of 2024 and officially transferred to Atletico Madrid this summer. The floating transfer fee clause has not been activated. At the beginning of the year, Barcelona sold Rock, a poor-formed prodigy, back to Palmeiras, with a transfer fee of 25.5 million euros (equivalent to US$26.45 million), setting a new transfer fee record in Brazil and even the Western Hemisphere.

This summer, the Brazilian League has produced two consecutive US$25 million signings, Nottingham Forest midfielder Danilo joined Botafogo, and Atletico defender Lino joined Flamengo. But Son Heung-min joined Los Angeles FC, and the transfer fee exceeded the three "25 million gentlemen" Rock, Danilo and Lino in this year's Brazil League. This new title of "King of the Western Hemisphere" is regarded as the highest starting point for Son Heung-min, the "King of Asian Football", to start a new life.

In Los Angeles FC, Son Heung-min will reunite with former Tottenham teammate goalkeeper Lowry. Unfortunately, former Arsenal center Giroud just joined Ligue 1 Ligue 1 and missed the opportunity to fight side by side with his former London derby opponent. However, because Giroud left the team, Los Angeles FC had a "designated player" quota to sign Korean stars. Son Heung-min will be the ninth Korean player to play in the North American Major League, but his popularity is higher than previous Hong Mingfu (Located Galaxy), Huang In-bang (Vancouver Wave), Kim Ki-hee (Seattle Bayern) and others. Because Japanese defender Ma Yoshida also plays for the Galaxy Los Angeles, after Son Heung-min joins, he will also stage a Japanese-Korea derby in the Los Angeles derby. Son Heung-min and Ma Yoshida are also old opponents, and they are very familiar with each other in both the Premier League and the national team.

Although Los Angeles FC coach Cherendoro is already a little impatient and praised Son Heung-min at the pre-League press conference yesterday: "He is a star that any team in the North American league and even any team in the world want to have." The home stadium of Los Angeles FC is only 22,000. In order to make Son Heung-min generate popularity and commercial value comparable to Messi, the club intends to place the home court of the important game at the Los Angeles Memorial Stadium with a capacity of 77,500 people. The stadium has just been renovated in 2019 and is the main stadium of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Before Son Heung-min, the most popular Korean athlete in North America was Lee Jung-ho of the American Professional Baseball League. In December 2023, he signed a 6-year contract with the San Diego Giants, with a total value of US$113 million, setting a record for Asian baseball players’ contract amounts at the American Professional Baseball League. But now, Los Angeles and even the entire North American major league will create a "Sun Heung-min effect" with greater popularity and business value. Like Messi and Ronaldo, although they are far away from the five major leagues, with Korean immigrants and a strong football atmosphere in Southern California, Son Heung-min will still have enough popularity and business influence in the emerging football market in North America.