“What an athlete” – 23-year-old draws inspiration from Tottenham star, dreams of playing in England

Arriving from KV Kortrijk in January, Samuel Gigot, KAA Gent’s centre-back is already making a name for himself in Belgium.

Not only that, but the 23-year-old has also shown he is capable of doing the job on a bigger stage, in this case the Europa League, by helping his new side knock out Tottenham from the competition last February.

Keeping a clean sheet at home against Mauricio Pochettino’s side, Gigot also played the full 90 minutes at Wembley, helping his side move to the last 16 stage of the competition.

As tends to be the case for a lot of footballers, playing in England regularly is an ambition of his, especially after experiencing it first hand against Tottenham, and holds one particular member of Spurs’ squad in high regard.

Speaking to Sport/Foot, he said: “My dream destination remains England. It doesn’t necessarily need to be with a Premier League side. Just the atmosphere, it’s fantastic. You need to be tough to stand out over there. Victor Wanyama, who plays for Tottenham, he’s a buffalo! What an athlete.

“If I could follow in his footsteps, that would be magnificent, but the road ahead is still very long.”

Standing at 6’2”, and spending most of his time in Gent’s gym, Gigot certainly has the physique to make it in English football.

Whether or not he has the ability to perform there consistently remains to be seen, but if he continues on his current trajectory, anything could happen, especially if he doesn’t mind getting there via the Championship.