Mauricio Pochettino has revealed he tried to sign Tottenham star Heung-min Son while in charge of Southampton nine years ago.

Son has helped inspire his Korean Republic side to last-ditch World Cup qualification, providing a late assist for Hwang Hee-chan in a 2-1 win over group leaders Portugal.

Speaking ahead of BBC's coverage of that tie, Pochettino explained: “When I arrived at Southampton, I was working with Paul Mitchell and Nicola Cortese was the chairman and we started to follow him.

"We wanted to sign him, we met him and his father, but it was impossible, he was still really young and he was playing in Hamburger SV and he wanted to continue in Germany for a few years."

As a result, Son stayed in the Bundesliga and instead moved to Bayer Leverkusen in a deal worth around £9million.

Pochettino added: “So he didn't move to Southampton, he moved to Leverkusen and then when I moved to Tottenham, one of the first things I did was try to bring him there and then, we achieved it."