The Frenchman is now starring for Premier League side Watford.
Tottenham Hotspur sold Welsh wizard Gareth Bale for a world record fee to Real Madrid back in 2013. They went on to invest the money back into the club, bringing in plenty of talented individuals that summer.
One such player was French international Etienne Capoue. Tottenham brought the central midfielder in from Toulouse for a fee reported by the BBC to be in the region of £9 million.
Watford’s Etienne Capoue celebrates scoring their first goal
But he was just one of many flops brought in to the club that summer. Paulinho, Vlad Chiriches and Roberto Soldado also failed to shine at Spurs and were eventually moved – as was Capoue.
After just 36 games for Spurs in two seasons he left the club, joining Watford.
He is now thriving at Vicarage Road and this weekend has been commenting on the positives of his poor stay with Spurs.
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He mentioned to So Foot how his time on the sidelines allowed him time to settle into English life with his family and gave him the hunger to succeed elsewhere:
“At Tottenham, I did not play too much so I had time to enjoy my family, it made me forget my failure. I had all my weekends to spend time with my kids and you realize it’s priceless. I was not sad.
“You have the frustration of seeing your teammates play, not having the confidence of the coach, but it makes you work more in training.
“I gave everything every day telling myself that it was going to pay and there it has been two seasons that I play all the time with Watford.”
Tottenham’s Etienne Capoue is brought down by Reading’s Aaron Tshibola (R) for a penalty
Watford fans can certainly vouch for his improvement. He was a key member of the first-team last season and has been so again this term.
He has also added goals to his game and looks a far-cry from the player that Tottenham had so little faith in.
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