Ledley King says one former Spurs midfielder was even more talented than Bale and Modric

Ledley King has said that Adel Taarabt had the most natural ability of all the players he played alongside at Tottenham over his distinguished career. Taarabt was one of the most talented young players in French football when he arrived at Spurs in the summer of 2007 from Lens. However, despite showing his outrageous ability […]

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Ledley King has said that Adel Taarabt had the most natural ability of all the players he played alongside at Tottenham over his distinguished career.

Taarabt was one of the most talented young players in French football when he arrived at Spurs in the summer of 2007 from Lens.

However, despite showing his outrageous ability on the ball during several cameos off the bench for Tottenham, the midfielder never managed to become a first-team regular at Spurs under Martin Jol, Juande Ramos or Harry Redknapp.

That has pretty much been the story of Taarabt’s career as he has never quite managed to deliver consistent displays and live up to his potential. Now 34, the midfielder is seeing out the twilight of his career at the Saudi Pro League club, Al-Nasr.

Several former Spurs players have spoken in glowing terms of the Morocco international’s talent, with Jermain Defoe even telling the Football Firsts podcast last month that while the midfielder would do ‘mad stuff’ in training, he lacked the professionalism to make the most of his talent.

(Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)

Adel Taarabt never lived up to his natural ability

King, who has played with some world-class players over his Tottenham career, including the likes of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Rafael Van de Vaart and Dimitar Berbatov, named Taarabt as the one who had ‘the most ability’.

The Spurs legend said on On The Judy Podcast: “Adel had unbelievable ability, Adel, he probably had the most ability of anyone I played with, but he didn’t know how to use it. 

“He could put the ball through your legs no problem, not mine, I wasn’t training, but then he gave it away, so that part of his game was missing, but he had ability, he had some ability.”

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Taarabt’s career trajectory is evidence that talent alone is not enough to be successful at the highest level. 

In fact, there are players who had a tenth of the 34-year-old’s ability, who have gone on to have unbelievable careers, primarily because they were more driven to become the best version of themselves. 

Unfortunately, Tanguy Ndombele’s career trajectory seems to be heading the same way as Taarabt’s.

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