Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min has signed a new long-term contract until 2023, the Premier League club announced on Friday.
The 26-year-old South Korea international has netted 47 goals in 140 appearances for Mauricio Pochettino’s side since his move from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015.
He became the top Asian scorer in the Premier League history, surpassing former Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung with a goal against Crystal Palace in November last year.
Son took his fine goalscoring touch to the World Cup in Russia where he scored twice for South Korea, including the second in a memorable 2-0 group stage win over 2014 winners Germany.
Ahead of the 2018-19 campaign with Spurs, Son will join the squad for the tour of the US where they will compete in the International Champions Cup against AS Roma, Barcelona and AC Milan.
AC Milan cleared to compete in Europa League after court overturns UEFA ban
The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday overturned a decision by European soccer body UEFA to ban AC Milan from next season’s Europa League competition, saying the Italian club’s finances had improved after a recent ownership change.
UEFA said last month that AC Milan did not meet a break-even requirement under its Financial Fair Play regulations, adding the club had not provided sufficient evidence of its financial stability.
Since then, US hedge fund Elliott Management has taken control of the indebted soccer club from Chinese businessman Li Yonghong and promised to inject 50 million euros ($58.5 million)to help stabilise its finances.
Li bought the Serie A club last year from former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi with the help of Elliott, but then failed to repay the fund.
In a statement, the court said that UEFA was not able to consider some important elements at the time of its decision, “in particular that the current financial situation of the club was now better, following the recent change in the club’s ownership”.
It referred the case back to UEFA to “issue a new proportionate disciplinary measure on the basis of the current financial situation of the club”.
World Cup was right time to end Socceroos career, says Cahill
Australia’s top goal scorer Tim Cahill knew the time was right to end his international career after the World Cup but the attacking midfielder said on Friday he wants to continue playing at club level.
The 38-year-old announced his international retirement on Tuesday while on holiday after playing in his fourth World Cup.
“For me, it was the right time,” he told a media conference in Sydney on Friday. "I had an inkling. I thought four World Cups, Asian Cups, Olympics, 107 games, goals."
“It wasn’t an easy decision. I don’t want it to be a sad moment (and) ... it was a pleasure to retire at the age of 38.”
Cahill retires as one of the greats of Australian football, with many of his 50 goals coming at crucial times in important matches — a feature of his 14-year Socceroos career.