Tottenham forward Son Heung-min has revealed he is ‘very sorry’ to see head coach Antonio Conte lose his job and admitted he ‘feels responsible’ for his exit.
Spurs confirmed late on Sunday night that they had reached a ‘mutual agreement’ with Conte to part ways.
The Italian was expected to leave Tottenham after digging out his ‘selfish’ players in the aftermath of their 3-3 draw with Southampton prior to the March international break.
Son spoke to the media following South Korea’s 2-1 loss to Uruguay on Tuesday and was asked for his thoughts on Conte’s departure.
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“I’m very sorry to him. He is a world class manager, we had great journey together, I thank him a lot,” Son said. “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 career.
“Coming back to Spurs, I wish to finish the rest of the season in a great way with my teammates, for our club.”
With most of Tottenham’s squad away on international duty, very few of them have had the chance to speak out on Conte’s departure.
That said, none of their current cohort have wished him well on social media – there were various tributes for predecessors Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho after they left Spurs.
Dejan Kulusevski spoke to the media following Sweden’s 5-0 win against Azerbaijan on Monday night, and was accepting of Tottenham’s decision to move on from Conte.
“It’s not me who decides. Whoever is the coach, we players will always accept and play for him and for everyone else,” Kulusevski said to Fotbollskanalen. “Now the club made this decision because they think it is the best and we players stand behind that.
“Always sad when a person you work with and have grown close to has to leave. But life goes on and you just have to move on. We have 10 games left now and we have to do our best to reach the top four.
“He has been very important. I have learned a lot from him and I will always remember him, but right now we have his assistant who I know very well. Then we’ll see who comes in next season, but I enjoy the city and the club very much.”
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