- Son has underperformed this season
- Conte dismissed on Sunday after tirade
- Korean apologised to former manager over exit
WHAT HAPPENED? Spurs announced the inevitable on Sunday when they revealed the Italian had left the club "by mutual consent" with ten Premier League games still to play. While Son finished as last season's joint-top scorer in the league with 23 goals, he has struck just six times this campaign, performances which he felt guilty for in light of Conte's sacking.
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WHAT THEY SAID: "I'm very sorry to him," the forward told Korean media after their 2-1 loss at home to Uruguay on Tuesday. "He is a world-class manager, we had great journey together, I thank him a lot. I do not know how other players are thinking about him, but I'm sorry to him. I should have shown more but I couldn't. I couldn't help the team and I feel responsible as he left the club. He surely has great ability and experience as a coach and I'm sure he'll have great success in his other career."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Son's message to Conte comes despite the Italian publicly outing his players, something which drew a sharp response from midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg not long after the tirade. But despite reports of the squad feeling relieved at their manager's exit, the apology of the South Korean international would paint a different picture, which echoes the heartfelt message given by Swedish team-mate Dejan Kulusevski.
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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR SON? Having scored two in Korea's 2-2 draw with Colombia before Tuesday's loss to Uruguay, the Spurs forward will hope to take that form into club level and revitalise his season under new interim boss Cristian Stellini, whose first challenge comes away at Everton on April 3.