An old teammate has returned as an opponent. Sergio Reguilón (29) joined Inter Miami and will face Son Heung-min (33, LAFC) from the opening match.
Inter Miami announced on the 16th (Korean time) on the club website "We have signed Spanish left back Reguilón through December 2027. The contract includes an option to extend through December 2028. He will occupy an international roster spot, add valuable depth to the team and bring extensive experience from competing at the top level in Europe," the club said.
Reguilón, who left Tottenham at the end of last season, found a new team after about half a year. Challenging the U.S. stage, he said "Inter Miami is a very ambitious project and a championship club that gets things done the right way. That is what attracted me."
Reguilón added, "I came here to help keep winning and to keep competing. My goal is to keep winning, chase the trophies we missed, and win every competition here."
Reguilón is a left back born in 1996 of Spanish nationality. A product of the Real Madrid youth system, he joined Tottenham in 2020 and immediately secured a starting spot. In his first season he played 36 official matches.
But his standing plunged afterward. Reguilón was completely pushed out of the starting competition after Antonio Conte became manager, and he spent loan spells at Atlético Madrid, Manchester United and Brentford. Even so, those moves repeatedly failed to result in permanent transfers.
Reguilón returned to Tottenham last summer. But under Ange Postecoglou's management he still had no place, and it was not easy even to sit on the bench. Amid a midseason run of injuries to the squad, he mostly played six matches as a substitute.
In the end Tottenham did not retain Reguilón. Tottenham announced, "Reguilón leaves the team at the end of his contract. He started for the team in the 2020 Carabao Cup final against Manchester City. After two seasons as a first-team starter he spent time on loan and recently returned to our team. Reguilón made 73 appearances in total and scored 2 goals," the club said.
Reguilón effectively endured nearly a year and a half of inactivity. He is trying to revive his career with this move to Inter Miami. Inter Miami plans to fill the gap left by retired Spain national team fullback Jordi Alba with Reguilón.
By entering the U.S. stage, Reguilón will reunite with Son Heung-min, with whom he shared a locker room at Tottenham. Of course this time they are not teammates but opponents. Inter Miami will clash with LAFC, where Son plays, in the opening match of the 2026 Major League Soccer (MLS) season in February next year.
Inter Miami is already an MLS powerhouse anchored by Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets. The team also captured the playoff cup championship this season. With the addition of Reguilón, who boasts explosive speed and aggressive overlapping, the burden on LAFC has grown.
Reguilón is also close friends with Son Heung-min. He has long shown his affection for Son by celebrating Son's goals more joyfully than anyone and joining in his celebrations, earning the nickname "Son Heung-min fan." He would run first toward opponents who knocked Son down and engage in on-field mind games.
After returning to Tottenham in the summer of 2023, Reguilón shared a photo taken together after about a year apart and happily wrote "I missed you. Son-aldo." But he continued a nomadic existence afterward, hardly playing alongside Son, and had to leave Son's side bitterly. Now they will meet again on the U.S. stage, though with different teams.
[Photo] ⓒGettyimages (Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited), Reguilón, Inter Miami social media.
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