José Mourinho has suggested Liverpool missed out on "one of the best players in the world" in Son Heung-min. The 61-year-old worked with Son at Tottenham Hotspur before he was sacked from the role in 2021.

Son, 31, signed for Spurs back in 2015 and has since gone on to score 120 goals and add a further 61 assists across his 300 appearances in the top flight of English football. The South Korean international has regularly been a thorn in the side of the Reds, with seven goals and one assist in his 16 meetings against Klopp's men.

In the absence of Harry Kane in North London this season, Son has taken a more senior role within the Spurs squad and is now the talisman at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. With 17 goals and nine assists to his name, Son is still at the height of his powers in England and has now been praised as 'one of the best in the world' by his former boss Mourinho.

“I don’t look at Son as a Korean player," he told EA Sports FC. "I look at Son as one of the best players in the world. Maybe Tottenham supporters aren’t going to be happy with what I’m going to say, it’s not disrespectful.

“He could win titles, he could play for the best teams. He could be playing in England for Man City, for Liverpool, for Chelsea. It could be abroad playing for one of the top teams.

“He has that modern mobility of the attacking players. He can play through the middle, from the sides, wide to coming inside.”

Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp has also agreed with Mourinho on the matter, after admitting back in 2021 that failing to sign the forward was one of his biggest regrets throughout his coaching career. "One of the biggest mistakes in my life is not signing Son Heung-min," Jürgen Klopp said to Korean outlet KBS News. "Outstanding player. He is fantastic, a sign of Korean football and one of the best strikers in the world."

Son and Klopp almost linked up at Borussia Dortmund in 2013, until Bayer Leverkusen swooped in with a $10.7million (€10m/£8.6m) bid and secured the services of the forward. "I wanted to stay in the Bundesliga. Leverkusen and Dortmund wanted me," Son said.

"Both teams play in the Champions League but I thought Dortmund would use rotation more than Leverkusen. That's why I chose Leverkusen over Dortmund. It's really important to play regularly at my age."