Throughout the history of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, few players have been quite as peculiar as Benoit Assou-Ekotto. There are an abundance of stories about the left-back and his time at Tottenham, and now Peter Crouch has added his own memories to the pile.
Assou-Ekotto signed for Spurs from Lens in 2006 and would go on to make an impressive 203 appearances for the Lilywhites before leaving the club in 2015 (Transfermarkt).
There can be no doubting Assou-Ekotto’s talents on the football field, but his character off it has often been brought into question.
The Cameroonian once told The Guardian that he viewed football as a profession rather than a passion, which raised a few eyebrows across the game. Assou-Ekotto doubled down on these comments more recently, telling The Athletic that plenty of other players feel the same.
There have also been reports of Assou-Ekotto being involved in an altercation with his teammate, Rafael van der Vaart, at half-time once due to an issue with set piece responsibilities, as recalled by former Spurs man Sandro (Daily Star).
Crouch thought Assou-Ekotto was strange, but he loved him
Now, speaking on the official Tottenham Hotspur podcast, former Tottenham striker Peter Crouch has weighed in on the divisive defender.
He said: “He’s the strangest character I’ve met in my life. I actually liked him, I love him, but he’s just very different. He’s one of those people where you just let him crack on. He’d come in before the game, he’d have crisps, a croissant, and some hot chocolate, then go out and play Man United and be the best player.
“He had no idea who we were playing. On a Saturday he’d be like ‘who’ve we got today?’ He knows Messi and Ronaldo, but he had no clue below the top two teams who they were.”
Spurs Web Opinion
The idea of this guy wandering into the dressing room on matchday with his unhealthy food and just having no real idea of what was going on is hilarious. Even more so when you think how little it ultimately impacted his game.
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