18 Jun 2026 14:56:35
I was heartened by the warm welcome of fellow posters the other day, really appreciate all of you
Given I'm Asian and with the WC ongoing, I just wonder from fellow Eds and posters, who is the best Asian player you've seen in the PL?
Personally, it was hands down Park Ji Sung - stamina, skills, quick, game intelligence, discipline and versatile. He had everything in the locker and was a proven and consistent winner.
Son Heung-Min would be next, and I often wonder how we would be if we had him instead of Firmino (not that one was better than the other, they would have offered different things and I note at one point we were choosing between the two), or how it would be if we had both! Alas, he was with spurs in the entire PL journey and didn't taste as much success as he probably should have.
I really hoped that Minamino and Endo would be great with us. Both did well, but perhaps wasn't as pivotal as Park or Son per say for their respective teams.
{Ed001's Note - Son for me, but that is because I like him as a person as well, whereas Park was a bit of a dick by all accounts.}
18 Jun 2026 15:58:36
Son given who the other guy played for.
Outside of the Premier League, Nakata all day long!
{Ed001's Note - when Nakata signed for AS Roma, they produced a polo shirt with his name on it and the sales paid for the transfer fee on its own.}
18 Jun 2026 16:02:26
Has to be Sonny, incredible footballer and top lad, would have loved for him to have been a Liverpool player. I loved Kagawa as a player at BVB, of course, it was harder to like him as a United player and he made a bit less of an impression there.
Okazaki was more than decent, too. Early days still, and he's not perfect, but I like watching Khusanov a lot.
18 Jun 2026 16:02:44
I always wonder how Keisuke Honda would have done in PL. We were linked with him a couple of times, and I remember getting excited with the prospect of him joining us. Had a wicket left foot too.
18 Jun 2026 16:05:26
Surely there is no comparison between Park Ji-Sung and Son simply on their abilities and performances. It was not Son's fault he was at Spurs, he did whatever he could to drag them up. There's no way Park Ji-Sung was a better player than Son.
18 Jun 2026 16:10:29
Red_Riding_Hood, Keisuke had a great engine too.
God, it's been over 10 years since I last cracked that joke!
18 Jun 2026 16:27:33
Park Ji Sung was the first name that came to mind. He was the first real Asian superstar playing the PL when I was growing up. But I think Son is a better player. Park is mainly known for his endless stamina, but Son is just a more complete footballer for me.
18 Jun 2026 16:38:11
I thought Son was a brilliant player and he seemed a nice bloke as well.
18 Jun 2026 16:42:22
Son.
I desperately wanted him at LFC, loved his style and attitude, but can't complain because we had an excellent Mane on the left.
Son and Alexis Sanchez are 2 players I really wanted when we were linked.
18 Jun 2026 16:47:38
I remembered how desperately I wanted us to sign Keisuke Honda. I got so excited when we were linked with him years back. But Son is probably the best out of them all. Park is more of a utility player, but Son is like one of the main stars in the Spurs team.
18 Jun 2026 16:48:54
Son. I personally thought that him leaving Spurs had a bigger negative impact on them than Kane leaving.
18 Jun 2026 16:48:56
Am I right in thinking Liverpool were deciding between Son and Firmino at the time, and decided to go with Firmino?
My word, what those two could have done together. I could be completely wrong, and it wasn't one or the other, but I seem to remember that being the case.
18 Jun 2026 17:11:31
What about Shinji Kagawa? He did very well with Dortmund under Klopp, before he joined ManU. Which basically ruined him.
18 Jun 2026 17:12:05
Who was the lad at Celtic who used to score crazy free kicks? Can't remember his name, but always thought he would have been great in the Premiership.
18 Jun 2026 17:12:46
Mango, I've heard that too. If we'd got Son, we wouldn't have signed Benteke.
But if that had happened, Rogers may have stayed on longer and we may not have got Klopp.
The world moves in mysterious ways!
18 Jun 2026 17:04:35
Oh wow, was Park a dick Ed mate? didn't know that and the little I saw of him, he looked like a decent chap
{Ed001's Note - he was known for ignoring people asking for autographs etc. Not like Stevie (who used bodyguards to pretend he had somewhere else to be so he couldn't stop long) G, who used to at least sign a few, Park would literally just ignore them totally. Every United fan I know would moan about him blanking them.}
18 Jun 2026 18:10:58
Charlie, that was Shuksuke Nakamura that played with Celtic. Was a superstar up here, I actually thought he did end up playing in the EPL, but I could be wrong.
18 Jun 2026 19:56:55
Has to be Son, although I would Youssi Benayoun would be a pretty close runner up.
18 Jun 2026 20:18:01
Can remember when Son was playing at Anfield... There was a corner and someone shouted from the Kop, 'throw us another pie in the fat'...
18 Jun 2026 21:08:54
Rugby, yes mate, that was him. Once watched him score an impossible goal against St Mirren, I was sitting directly behind him. It was one of his special free kicks. He didn't play in the Premiership, unfortunately.
18 Jun 2026 21:17:11
True that about Son based on what many shared, just that he didn't quite win as much for me.
Then again, I am reminded that my own question was about the best player, and, football being a team sport, unfortunately, some of the best and most talented players were just never in teams good enough to win much.
Also liked the various names mentioned. I did like Youssi Benayoun. Honda would have been interesting, but yes, Nakata in the 90s and early 2000s was quite something, though he only had a very brief spell in England towards the end of his career.
18 Jun 2026 22:02:01
A dose of nostalgia seeing Nakata's name. I remember watching Football Italia on Channel 4 as a kid with the likes of Nakata standing out, which is some feat given the quality of the league at the time.
19 Jun 2026 09:11:15
Kazuyoshi Miura was the first Asian player I ever heard of in the 90's. He actually played in the Brazilian League for Santos, Pele's team.
A living monument in Japanese football and a true pioneer.
As of a couple of years ago, "Kazu" was still playing in his early 50's in the J-League second division.
Legend.