Former Tottenham star admits he should have signed for rivals Arsenal instead

Tottenham signed Adel Taarabt in 2007 but he struggled to get into the first team and he later became a success at QPR – though the midfielder has now admitted he perhaps should have joined their rivals Arsenal first

Adel Taarabt has stuck the boot into old club Tottenham after admitting he wishes he joined rivals Arsenal instead. The Moroccan star was often a divisive figure during his time in the Premier League but there was no doubt about his eye-catching talent in midfield as he later became a cult favourite at QPR.

But things weren’t so simple when he arrived in England with Tottenham as he struggled to get into the first team. He managed just 15 appearances in his first three seasons before being loaned to QPR in the 2008-09 season.

It was at Loftus Road where he left fans in awe with his breathless displays in midfield – scoring 19 goals in the 2010-11 season as he helped the team win promotion under Neil Warnock.

He later played for Fulham, AC Milan, Benfica and Genoa and is now competing the UAE with Sharjah FC.

Reflecting on his time at Spurs during an interview with talkSPORT, he said he might have gone in a different direction in hindsight because Arsenal had more French-speaking players.

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“My first choice that I think was not good was – not to sign for Tottenham, because Tottenham is a good club – but at that time I had offers to go to Arsenal and it was a more French club with Arsene Wenger and a lot of French players.

“At Tottenham, I arrived in the dressing room with Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov, big characters, difficult to get a chance. I followed Damien Comoli, he was at Arsenal, I should’ve gone to Arsenal, but suddenly he was at Tottenham and he brought me there.”

Taarabt was renowned for his incredible footwork and creative vision during his time in the Premier League, but he also made headlines for his poor attitude, workrate and off the pitch incidents.

Harry Redknapp once accused him of being overweight and unfit at QPR and once stormed off after being substituted against Fulham.

His former QPR boss Neil Warnock spoke to him live on air during the same interview and joked he would fine the player – admitting he could be “hard work” but praised his incredible ability on his day.

“Next time you come on, will you watch your language or I’ll be fining you!” he jokingly told his former player. “I get people stopping me in the street thanking me for that year [2010/11], saying: ‘Adel, how good was he?’

“We had problems and you were hard work at times, but the pleasure that you gave me and the fans was fabulous.”

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