Son Heung-min — the face that inspired a thousand tattoos?

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Son Heung-min — the face that inspired a thousand tattoos?

Published: 16 Nov. 2023, 09:03 Updated: 17 Nov. 2023, 10:34

JIM BULLEY
jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr

Son Heung-min [REUTERS/YONHAP]

A Golden Boot, a Puskas Award, captain of both club and country and countless Player of the Months. There aren’t many honors Son Heung-min has not earned — and you can apparently now add biggest tattoo inspiration since "I heart Mom" to that list.

Son ranks first among Premier League players inspiring the most ink, according to a new study by British betting company Betway and marketing firm Kaizen. Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford comes second, followed by Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Arsenal’s Declan Rice.

The study is based on search volume, meaning that there were more Google searches for some variation of “Son Heung-min tattoo” than there were for any other player. Son saw 28,920 searches over the last year, according to the data from Betway and Kaizen, followed by Rashford with 21,120, Foden with 17,760 and Rice with 11,160.

The list drops off rapidly after that. Former Tottenham star Harry Kane is in fifth — presumably because he played in the Premier League for part of the year — with 3,720, followed by Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk with 3,360, City’s Kevin De Bruyne with 2,760, Erling Haaland with 1,920 and Rodri with 1,680, and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka on 1,560.

Of course, searching for “Son Heung-min tattoo” — or more likely “Sonny tattoo” — does not actually equal getting the tattoo. In fact, a quick Google search brings up very few images of actual Son tattoos — although there is a Park Ji-sung — suggesting that the 28,920 Son tattoo fans either decided against getting one, did not share it online or are still waiting to get it done.

Betway and Kaizen also broke down the Premier League teams by tattoo popularity, with Manchester United topping the table with 158,400 yearly searches and 418,000 TikTok hashtag views. West Ham came in second, followed by Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.

Tottenham ranked seventh with 29,760 searches, suggesting that according to this methodology, Son is only slightly less popular than the club itself.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who did not make the top 10 by Google search, ranked highest in terms of TikTok hashtag views. According to Betway and Kaizen, that likely translates into more actual tattoos, as TikTok videos are more likely to focus on the real ink rather than the idea.

Son, as tattoo-less as he’s ever been, is back in Korea this week for the international break. Korea will face Singapore on Thursday in Seoul and China on Nov. 21 in China in two World Cup qualifiers. If you’re still here for the ink, center-back Kim Min-jae has got you covered.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]