Son Heung-min has told how Rodrigo Bentancur was on the brink of tears as he apologised for the racist slur which has sparked an FA investigation.
Bentancur is still waiting for the verdict and could be hit with a lengthy ban but his Tottenham captain has already forgiven him.
‘At the moment because of the FA process I can’t say much about it,’ said Son. ‘But I love Rodrigo, I love him. We’ve a lot of good memories since we started playing together when he joined.
‘He knew and he apologised straight afterwards. We were on holiday. I was at home. I didn’t even realise what was going on when he sent me a long message and you could feel it was coming from his heart.
‘When we came back for pre-season he felt really sorry, and almost cried when he apologised publicly and personally as well. He felt like he was really sorry. We are all human and all make mistakes and we learn from it.’
Rodrigo Bentancur (right) made a racist slur when asked about his team-mate Son Heung-min back in June
Son has revealed Bentancur was close to tears when he apologised to him, and insisted he still ‘loves’ his team-mate
Bentancur, 27, was on Uruguayan television in June when he was asked by a presenter for a Spurs shirt. ‘Sonny’s?’ he replied. ‘It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.’ The FA charged him with misconduct earlier this month.
‘I love Rodrigo. I love him, I love him,’ said 32-year-old Son as he addressed the matter for the first time in public.
‘He knows he made a mistake but I’ve no problem at all with him. We move on as a team-mate and friend and as a brother. We move on together.
‘We have to wait for what the FA says in their process. I can’t say much but what I can say is I love Rodrigo, there’s nothing more to say.’