Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min is reportedly set to return to first-team training with the Lilywhites on Thursday with the intention of being available for Saturday's clash with Brighton & Hove Albion.
The 31-year-old is yet to make an appearance for Ange Postecoglou's side in 2024, having been summoned for Asian Cup duty with South Korea at the start of January.
The Taeguk Warriors were regarded as one of the favourites to go all the way in Qatar, and Son found the back of the net twice during South Korea's unbeaten group-stage run.
The Spurs skipper then sent his nation through to the semi-finals with a dramatic extra-time winner over Australia, but in a shock turn of events, South Korea went down 2-0 to Jordan in Tuesday's semi-final.
Son completed the entire match for the sixth time but was powerless to prevent his nation's elimination, and there will be no third-placed playoff for South Korea to salvage a slice of pride.
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The former Bayer Leverkusen man will now gear up to return to domestic duty with Tottenham, and according to the Daily Mail, he is expected to report back to Hotspur Way for training on Thursday.
Son will therefore have two days to get back up to speed before Tottenham host Brighton & Hove Albion in Saturday's Premier League clash, and he is hoping to come into contention for the visit of the Seagulls.
Since being bestowed with the armband by Postecoglou, Son has thrived in a Tottenham jersey with 12 goals and five assists from 20 Premier League matches in 2023-24, sitting fourth in the Golden Boot race behind Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah and Dominic Solanke.
The attacker's most recent appearance for Tottenham saw him register in a 3-1 win over Bournemouth on New Year's Eve, and Postecoglou's side have navigated their last five games without the services of their captain.
In that time, the capital giants have only managed slender wins over Burnley and Brentford in the Premier League and FA Cup respectively, while drawing with Manchester United and Everton and suffering an FA Cup fourth-round exit to Manchester City.
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In spite of Son's absence, Tottenham have kept up their club-record prolific streak in the Premier League, netting seven goals across their last three top-flight fixtures to take their scoring sequence to 35 matches.
The exploits of Richarlison have been pivotal to Spurs' prolonged goalscoring success, as the Brazilian netted a brace against former club Everton at the weekend, his eighth and ninth goals from his last eight Premier League matches.
Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Bryan Gil represent alternative options in the final third, although Manor Solomon is still recovering from a knee operation.
In addition to Son, Spurs could also have Yves Bissouma back at their disposal for the weekend after his Mali side were dumped out of the Africa Cup of Nations by Ivory Coast over the weekend.
However, it has now been revealed that Bissouma had contracted malaria during the tournament, and he will be assessed upon his return to North London.
Ben Knapton
