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Park Ji-sung to Son Heung-min: Who are the Top 10 Asian players in PL?

  /  autty

Tottenham Hotspur's Heung-min Son became the first Asian player to win the Premier League Golden Boot in the 2021-22 season...

Since Park-ji Sung made a name for himself at Manchester United, several Asian players have made an impact in the Premier League in the past one and a half decades.

Players from Japan, South Korea, China and even Oman have featured in the league with some players making it really big in the country.

Park's compatriot Heung-min Son, off late, has been one of the most prominent faces in the league with some stellar shows in Tottenham Hotspur's jersey.

Son is the first Asian player to score 50 goals in the Premier League and most recently he became the first player from the continent to win the Golden Boot award jointly with Mohamed Salah scoring 23 goals in the season.

There have been only four Asian players in the past who have managed to win the Premier League title. Park won the league four times with Manchester United while Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa won it with the Red Devils in 2012-13. Japanese forwards Shinji Okazaki and Takumi Minamino also won the league once each. Okazaki famously won it with Leicester City in 2015-16 and Minamino won the league with Liverpool in 2019-20.

Unlike his predecessor in South Korea who won every major trophy multiple times with the Red Devils, Son is yet to win a trophy with Spurs. But at an individual level, he has achieved a lot, like winning the FIFA Puskas Award, Premier League Golden Boot Award and being named Tottenham's Player of the Season on more than one occasion.

10. Park Ji-sung

Country: South Korea

Club: Manchester United, Queens Park Rangers

Position: Midfielder

Stint: 2005-12, 2012-13

Matches: 154

Goals: 19

Trophies: Premier League (2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11) Football League Cup (2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10), FA Community Shield (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011), UEFA Champions League (2007–08), FIFA Club World Cup (2008)

9. Son Heung-min

Country: South Korea

Club: Tottenham Hotspur

Position: Forward

Matches: 232

Goals: 93

Stint: 2015-present

Trophies: None

8. Shinji Okazaki

Country: Japan

Club: Leicester City

Position: Forward

Stint: 2015-2019

Matches: 114

Goals: 14

Trophies: Premier League (2015-16)

7. Shinji Kagawa

Country: Japan

Club: Manchester United

Position: Midfielder

Stint: 2012-2015

Matches: 38

Goals: 6

Trophies: Premier League (2012-13), FA Community Shield (2013)

6. Takumi Minamino

Country: Japan

Club: Liverpool

Position: Forward

Stint: 2019-present

Matches: 30

Goals: 4

Trophies: Premier League (2019–20), FA Cup (2021–22), EFL Cup (2021–22)

5. Ali Al-Habsi

Country: Oman

Club: Bolton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic

Position: Goalkeeper

Stint: 2005-10, 2010-15

Matches: 111

Trophies: FA Cup

4. Maya Yoshida

Country: Japan

Club: Southampton

Position: Centre Back

Stint: 2012-2020

Matches: 154

Goals: 4

Trophies: None

3. Lee Chung-yong

Country: South Korea

Club: Bolton Wanderers, Crystal Palace

Position: Winger

Stint: 2009-12, 2014-18

Matches: 105

Goals: 8

Trophies: None

2. Junichi Inamoto

Country: Japan

Club: Arsenal, Fulham, West Brom

Stint: 2001-06

Matches: 66

Goals: 4

Trophies: None

1. Sun Jihai

Country: China

Club: Manchester City

Position: Defender

Stint: 2002-2008

Matches: 123

Trophies: Championship