Darren Bent reveals he could tell talented Spurs teammate was only there as a ‘stopgap’

Darren Bent has claimed Luka Modric was so good in training at Tottenham that it was as if he was playing with ‘six eyes’. 

Modric was the star of the show in the Champions League quarter-final as he inspired Real Madrid to a 5-4 aggregate win over Chelsea. 

The Croatia international provided stellar performances in both legs against the Blues and notched crucial assists in each of the encounters. 

His best came in the second leg when he played a stunning cross in with the outside of his right boot for substitute Rodrygo to volley home an equaliser to send the tie to extra time.  

And Bent, who was Modric’s teammate at Tottenham in the 2008-09 campaign, admits he is not surprised at how good the 36-year-old has become, having impressed despite some early struggles in North London. 

He told talkSPORT: “[At Spurs] you knew he wasn’t going to be there that long, that you could just tell it was a stopgap.

“But he struggled at Spurs at first, couldn’t quite get to grips with the Premier League, but we all saw in training, we remember thinking, ‘Wow who is this?’

“You couldn’t tackle him [in training], it’s like he had about six eyes, like you try to tackle him from the right-hand side, or pop up behind him, and he would take the ball to his left.

“And then his first couple of yards, he was electric, he was gone. Then you go, right, let me show him on his left [foot], and he would go with his right.

“And as you saw [on Tuesday against Chelsea], he didn’t necessarily have to hit the ball on his left foot to pick a pass.”

Spurs signed Modric from Dinamo Zagreb for around £16 million (Sky Sports) and went on to make 160 appearances for the club (Transfermarkt). 

Real then forked out a fee in the region of £30 million in 2012 for the midfielder (BBC Sport), who would go on to win the Ballon d’Or six years later. 

Spurs Web Opinion 

Modric wasn’t at Spurs for too long, but you could tell just how good he was and could be in that time. Spurs fans won’t be surprised at how much success he’s had over his career and full credit goes to him for maintaining such a high level. 

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