JERMAINE JENAS SAYS he thought Tottenham “had signed Zinedine Zidane” after watching Adel Taarabt in training.
The Moroccan, who Jenas played with at Spurs and QPR, is currently plying his trade with Benfica’s B side after further unsuccessful spells with Fulham and AC Milan.
But Taarabt initially made an impact in English football, most notably scoring 19 goals for QPR in the Championship to guide them back to the Premier League which prompted reported interest from Paris Saint-Germain.
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Jenas was discussing luxury players on BBC Radio 5 Live and admitted he was blown away by Taarabt’s skills in training upon his arrival at White Hart Lane.
“I let [Dimitar Berbatov] get away with murder because I knew he would win [us] games,” Jenas said.
“I said to him ‘I’ll do all your running because you have that something special that will win us a trophy or that big game’ and he did! That’s what a luxury player is to me.”
Turning his attention to Taarabt, Jenas added: “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!’
“Then all of a sudden, you were just like something is just not right, I can’t 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’.”
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'I thought Tottenham had signed Zidane!'
JERMAINE JENAS SAYS he thought Tottenham “had signed Zinedine Zidane” after watching Adel Taarabt in training.
The Moroccan, who Jenas played with at Spurs and QPR, is currently plying his trade with Benfica’s B side after further unsuccessful spells with Fulham and AC Milan.
But Taarabt initially made an impact in English football, most notably scoring 19 goals for QPR in the Championship to guide them back to the Premier League which prompted reported interest from Paris Saint-Germain.
Jenas was discussing luxury players on BBC Radio 5 Live and admitted he was blown away by Taarabt’s skills in training upon his arrival at White Hart Lane.
“I let [Dimitar Berbatov] get away with murder because I knew he would win [us] games,” Jenas said.
“I said to him ‘I’ll do all your running because you have that something special that will win us a trophy or that big game’ and he did! That’s what a luxury player is to me.”
Turning his attention to Taarabt, Jenas added: “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!’
“Then all of a sudden, you were just like something is just not right, I can’t 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’.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
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Adel Taarabt Dimitar Berbatov Great expectations Jermaine Jenas Premier League Tottenham Hotspur Zinedine Zidane