Mauricio Pochettino reveals he had to convince Son Heung-min to remain at Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has revealed he held discussions with Son Heung-min during the summer transfer window convincing the forward to remain at the club.

Son has been Tottenham's stand-out player in their last two Premier League games, scoring twice against Stoke City before being named Man of the March in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday (18 September).

But during a summer where he travelled to Brazil to represent South Korea at Rio 2016, the 24-year-old's future in North London appeared in real doubt, with Wolfsburg among the clubs interested in bringing him back to the Bundesliga after just one season.

"He came to see me and said he needed my help, and I said: 'OK, always my door is open'. He is a quiet person, a nice person," Pochettino said.

"After the Olympic Games his idea was to leave to go to Germany. In his mind, he would like to move but in the end he accepted the decision to stay and fight for his position.

"The truth is on the pitch. I say this to all my players. If you deserve to play, you will play. It's not about names it's about performances. I am happy for him. His performance was fantastic. That's why we waited for him."

Son's recent resurgence at Tottenham followed his decision to not represent South Korea in their World Cup 2018 qualifier during the recent international break.

"Tottenham are the team I wanted to join and I know that I have to work hard and play my best," Son said, as quoted by Sky Sports, after revealing that he was going to miss the World Cup qualifying match against Syria. "I am in good condition and ready to go and play as well as I can. I am sorry to my national teammates and coach but I will support them and hope they get a good result against Syria."