‘Oh my god’ – Defoe names the player he used to argue with ‘all the time’ at Tottenham

Former Tottenham midfielder Etienne Capouewas a very brilliant player, according to Jermain Defoe.

Andre Villas-Boas signed Capoue in the summer of 2013 in a £9.4 million deal from Toulouse in order to fight with Sandro for the number six position.

The Frenchman, who was regarded as one of Ligue 1’s top young talents at the time, was well-regarded when he joined Spurs.

The midfielder was eventually traded to Watford for £6 million in 2015 after failing to consistently earn starts at Tottenham.

Prior to joining Villarreal in 2021, the midfielder played 167 times for the Hornets throughout his six seasons with the team.

At Vicarage Road, Capoue and Troy Deeney shared a locker room. The former Watford captain acknowledged during an interview with Defoe for the Football Firsts Podcast that he and the former Frenchman frequently quarreled.

Both attackers admitted they were in awe of the 35-year-old’s brilliance, and Defoe concurred that the former Toulouse great was rather opinionated.

No one is backing down, but nobody is approaching with the intent to hurt the other person, according to Deeney. You and I are on each other, and that ultimately fueled us.

“Like I said, it’s [Etienne Capoue] Caps; morally speaking, we both fit the same category. He shares my desire to succeed and my love of family, but our personalities couldn’t be more dissimilar. At Tottenham, did you play with Etienne?

“Yep,” Jermain Defoe answered. He’s decent, isn’t he? Deeney then retorted, “How talented is he? He’s an idiot,” said Defoe before adding, “Oh my gosh. At Tottenham, we used to dispute all the time, but now he apologizes.

“Unbelievable player,” Deeney said, “probably the best I’ve played with because he just had so much about him.”

Capoue appeared to possess all the qualities necessary to be a world-class number six, including amazing agility, technical proficiency, and an excellent sense of the game. But for some reason, he was never quite able to realize his full potential.