Spurs star reveals 2009 Pompey trial

The 25-year-old South Korean, who is a key player in the Spurs side currently chasing Champions League and FA Cup glory, came to the Blues as a 17-year-old in 2009.

But speaking to Mailonline.com, Son remembers it as a 'bad' experience as he sat in a single room in a Portsmouth guest house.

He said: 'I had no friends there, no family with me and I couldn't speak the language.

'I didn't know a single word. I was on my own and I was scared, you know. It was tough.

'I had a trial at Portsmouth and one at Blackburn, too.

'They put me in a guest house. But I was a kid and I didn't know anything. So that is my first memory of England and it is a bad one.'

Son arrived at Pompey after being released by Hamburg SV's youth academy.

However, he returned to the German side, where he made his full debut during the 2010-11 season.

Son signed for Bayer Leverkusen in 2013 for a club record 10million euros.

He became the most expensive Asian player in history when he joined Spurs for £22m in 2015.

Son added: 'Going to Germany was tough, just as it was in Portsmouth and Blackburn.

'Everybody talks about now but nobody thinks about you when you are 16 and leave your country.

'It was bad and a hard decision, the hardest.

'But I had to make it as those chances don't come every day.

'I didn't feel ready - and I wasn't ready - but I wanted to play in Europe and one day I wanted to play Premier League. I told myself I had to try to make my dreams come true.'