Ryan Fredericks has named Luka Modric as one player he was ‘taken aback’ by in training during his time at Tottenham.
Fredericks, who now plies his trade at rivals West Ham, came through the ranks at Tottenham after joining the club’s academy in July 2009.
Despite making just four appearances for Spurs (Transfermarkt), he spent plenty of time in and around the first-team and got used to rubbing shoulders with some of the best players in the Premier League.
The 29-year-old has since revealed that he was in awe of some senior players at the club in his first few training sessions as a teenager, and has singled out current Real Madrid star Modric as one of those he looked up to.
Modric, 36, spent four seasons at Spurs before joining Los Blancos, where he would go on to win four Champions League trophies and the 2018 Ballon d’Or.
Fredericks told Sky Sports Football: “Yeah, when I was a kid and when I was coming through at Tottenham and I was 16, I was training with the first team.
“That’s when they had players like [Luka] Modric and people like that, when you’re young you look up to those types of players, and for that first five or 10 minutes you’d be taken aback by him.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Fredericks was one of the youngsters that didn’t end up making the cut at Tottenham, but he was around the club at a time when there were some really excellent players in the side. Modric is the obvious one and it’s no surprise that he singled the Croatian out, given he is and has been so good throughout his whole career.
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