Jermaine Jenas has revealed just how highly he thought of Adel Taarabt when he joined the club in 2007.
The Moroccan is brimming with natural ability and is capable of doing things with a football that no-one has ever seen.
And when Taarabt came into Spurs as a promising youngster, though he did not set the world alight on the pitch, he regularly wowed Spurs players with his skills.
Jermaine Jenas, now a pundit, revealed just how in awe of Taarabt he was at the time.
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Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, he said:
"I have seen him do some of the most outrageous things I have ever seen done with a football on a football pitch in my life.
"Even as a young 16-17-year-old when he came to Spurs, I was just like 'we have found Zidane, we have found him, we've got Zidane, I can't believe it, we're going to be unbelievable!"
However Taarabt only showed flashes of brilliance at Spurs, though he did end up shining at QPR - playing with Jenas at the R's for a brief period.
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"Then all of a sudden, you were just like something is just not right, I cant figure it out. When you were out on the pitch with him, it just felt like he would do things at silly times and you felt 'he's going to cost us here'."
Taarabt then had unsuccessful loan spells with Fulham and AC Milan before sealing a move to Benfica in the summer. Yet the 27-year old has not played a single second of action for the Portuguese champions this term, in what is another strange twist in a topsy-turvy career.
(h/t Squawka)
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