Liverpool Boss Klopp Says Not Signing Spurs Striker Son Heung-min 'One Of My Biggest Mistakes'

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said not signing South Korean striker Son Heung-min was "one of the biggest mistakes" in his life.

Son Heung-min, who has always received praise from Klopp, has been at Tottenham Hotspur since 2015. He has a contract with the North London club until 2025.

"One of the biggest mistakes in my life is not signing Son Heung-min. He is fantastic, a sign of Korean football and one of the best strikers in the world. From what I hear, he's in good shape. Maybe if Son Heung-min plays in the World Cup wearing a mask, there will be no problem," Klopp told KBS news, according to Goal.com.

Klopp's comments came after Liverpool defeated Spurs 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Sunday. The win was a major morale booster for the Reds as they had suffered a loss in their previous two league games: vs Nottingham Forest and Leeds United. The win over Spurs also marked Klopp and Co's first away victory of the 2022-23 Premier League.

Struggling for form and fitness in recent weeks, Antonio Conte's Spurs had to host Liverpool without their key playmaker Son.

The former Bayern Leverkusen star is currently out of action after undergoing surgery on a broken eye socket he sustained in the Champions League win against Marseille last week.

While Son's absence gave Klopp's Liverpool a slight advantage in North London, the German boss expressed hope to see the Spurs star recover before the World Cup later this month.

Spurs signed Son from Leverkusen for just $25 million and over the years, the 30-year-old winger has established himself as one of the most devastating playmakers in the world.

After a slow start to the 2022-23 season, he returned to form by registering a hat-trick in Spurs' 6-2 win over Leicester City in September. He has so far netted five goals and provided two assists in 19 games for Spurs across all competitions in the ongoing campaign.

Over the years, Son has claimed 344 competitive caps for Spurs, scoring 136 goals and assisting 76 more. Son finished the 2021-22 season as the joint-top scorer along with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and the pair shared the Golden Boot.

Son is also one of the most important figures on South Korea's national soccer side as he has netted 35 goals and 17 assists in 106 appearances. South Korea's opening game of the FIFA World Cup 2022 is a big one as they face off against Uruguay on Nov. 24 in Qatar.