‘Like being with a rock star’ – Son’s 10 years at Spurs

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Walker, who spent eight years in north London before joining Manchester City in 2017, said on his ‘You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker’ podcast.

“We’d do an appearance and then we’d have to use decoy vehicles to get away because fans would try and stop the traffic. They all wanted to catch a glimpse of Sonny.

“They’d come back to the hotel where we were staying and all night they’d sit outside. It was incredible.

“I’ve seen it before to a certain degree with Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and David Beckham. But it was nothing compared to Sonny.”

Wimmer, who has stayed in touch with Son since leaving Spurs in 2017, likened it to “being in the company of a rock star”.

“I was always joking with him about this,” he says.

“I said: ‘You are the most famous guy in South Korea’, but he was like: ‘No, no, it’s not so special’.”

Former Austria defender Wimmer had arrived at White Hart Lane from Cologne in the summer of 2015, three months before Son.

“I knew of him because, like me, he was playing in the Bundesliga,” adds Wimmer.

The pair struck up an instant friendship in London.

In their early days at Tottenham, they would often speak German together while they improved their English.

After a win at Southampton in 2016, Son and Wimmer interviewed one another – in English – for Spurs TV.

“Kev, why are you my best friend?” asks Son.

Wimmer replies: “Because you are a wonderful guy, an honest guy. It’s always funny with you and I hope we stay together for many more years here.”

Within a year, Wimmer had been sold to Stoke for £18m. Son stayed to become a Spurs great.