Having played for many clubs during his career, including Tottenham Hotspur, midfielder Adel Taarabt has plenty of good stories to tell.
The latest of them was revealed to French outlet 90Football, with whom he had a chat about his move to Benfica in 2015.
Taarabt explained that in Lisbon, he found the best club mentality he’s ever seen, despite playing for the likes of Tottenham and Milan in previous years.
“It’s the club that shocked me the most. People tell me that I played for Milan and Tottenham, but Benfica is on another level. It’s Champions League. When I arrived at Benfica, I saw the boys, aged 15, and I was shocked. Before training in the gym, after training in the gym,” Taarabt told 90Football (via Mais Futebol).
Taarabt also explained that Benfica players used to see money in a different way, and none of them would make big purchases with fancy clothes or expensive cars.
“The Portuguese have the best mentality. When I left London, I arrived in Lisbon with a Ferrari. I got to the parking lot and you know what cars I saw? 307, Peugeot, 407 Is this what you play for? People told me: ‘The Portuguese are not like that’. Do you know how they dressed? Adidas, Nike… No Givenchy, Balmain, Dolce & Gabbana, forget it. I sold the Ferrari, I bought a Mercedes Class A, what a life! Magnificent, simple life. No show.”
Belonging to Tottenham between 2007 and 2010, Taarabt only made 15 appearances for the club. In his last year there, he was actually loaned to Queens Park Rangers, by whom he ended up being bought and which stands as the club for whom he has the most appearances to this day, with 164 games played.
Taarabt also featured for Fulham, Milan, Benfica and Genoa. Last summer, he left European football by agreeing a free move to Al-Nasr.
