Son Heung-min: The understated footballer who's impossible to hate

With players like Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli constantly grabbing the headlines for Tottenham, the value of Son Heung-min often gets overlooked.

After joining Spurs from Bayer Leverkusen for £22 million back in 2015, the South Korea international has flourished in the Premier League, becoming one of the division's most influential attackers.

This season, Son has scored 16 goals and registered nine assists in 32 appearances for the North London outfit (all comps) - just two goals and two assists shy of his season totals last time out.

He has in many ways become the centre piece at Tottenham's makeshift Wembley home this term, often bailing out the side should Harry Kane find himself misfiring, and is now the man entrusted to lead the line in Kane's absence through injury.

With Harry Kane potentially sidelined until March with an ankle injury, Son will now be the bare the brunt of Tottenham's expectations.

Mauricio Pochettino has favoured him up front ahead of the ageing Fernando Llorente in Spurs' recent league wins over Newcastle & Leicester, and chose to play him alongside the Spaniard in Wednesday night's 3-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund instead of out wide, a decision that he has proved to be the correct one considering he's got on the scoresheet in all three of those fixtures.

With Dele Alli also out injured and players like Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela have struggled with form in recent outings, Son is a pivotal figure in Tottenham's side at the moment.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino has been forced to base his entire team around the South Korean and, with just five points separating them from both Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, the 26-year-old's performance levels cannot afford to drop.

With 21 and 18 goals in his previous two respective seasons at Tottenham, and 16 already to his name this time out - alongside a total of 35 assists in a Spurs shirt so far - Heung-min Son is now becoming one of the Premier League's most consistent attackers.

At just 26 years of age, the former Bayer Leverkusen forward still has a long and promising career ahead of him. His current contract at Spurs runs until 2023, however should he continue to display this level of performance at Tottenham it's only a matter of time before a Barcelona or Real Madrid come calling.

Son is now also displaying that he is capable of handling the pressure of being the leading man for his club in big games, alongside being able to operate in a more central attacking role instead of just out wide.

The South Korean continues to show the watching world that he is not only blessed with an obscene amount of natural ability, but also that he is a humble; hard working, dedicated footballer willing to give his all for the cause and should it continue, he's destined to go right to the top.