Tottenham legends Ledley King and Jermain Defoe have waxed lyrical about their former Spurs teammate.
Ledley King and Jermain Defoe graced the White Hart Lane pitch alongside each other a number of times during their Tottenham careers.
Both Spurs legends in their own right, the pair both played under Harry Redknapp during the early 2010s.
Qualifying for the Champions League in the 2009/10 season, King and Defoe were just two parts of a squad that was littered with talent.
Gareth Bale was the jewel in Tottenham’s crown bursting onto the scene with an iconic display against European champions Inter Milan – a game in which Brazilan right-back Maicon, would never recover from.
The Welshman’s attacking exploits were backed up by the genius of Rafael van der Vaart, who added some stardust to the Spurs attack following his arrival from Real Madrid.
There was however one player who was the glue in the Tottenham machine, a certain Croatian midfielder who would soon become a footballing icon.
King praises Tottenham legend
During his 13-year spell at the Lilywhites, King was undoubtedly one of Tottenham’s most talented players with Thierry Henry rather famously labelling the Spurs man as the best defender he ever played against.
He however also played alongside some greats in North London, with Luka Modric being one of them.
Joining the Lilywhites back in 2008, then managed by Juande Ramos, Modric initially struggled to adapt to the English game.
Following the appointment of Harry Redknapp though, the Croatian would eventually start to show his talent.
The Ballon d’Or winning midfielder would soon become a mainstay in Redknapp’s Spurs team as they qualified for the Champions League in 2010.
The midfielder’s exploits would soon attract the attention of Europe’s elite with London rivals Chelsea making a number of attempts to secure the Croatian in 2011.
The ever-stubborn Daniel Levy however would rebuff the Blues advances and eventually sell Modric to Real Madrid instead, a year later.
Speaking on the FIVE podcast, King reflected on Modric’s Spurs career and claimed the Croatian “would dominate” at Anfield, when playing against Steven Gerrard.
King also admitted no one at the club realised how good Modric was when he first arrived.
“I think in the Premier League we sometimes tend to think someone is too small if they’re in the midfield position.
“So we used to play Luca off the left, it’s only when we brought him inside we eventually saw just how good he was. He was someone who liked to play deep, get the ball off the back four, and dictate things.
“I have seen Luka go to Anfield and play against Stevie, I’ve seen Luca dominate there.”
- Read more: Luka Modric shares what he really thinks about Tottenham after leaving for Real Madrid in 2012
What did Defoe say about Modric?
Scoring 143 goals during his time at Spurs, Defoe was one of the many beneficiaries of Modric’s midfield genius, regularly latching onto a clever assist from the Croatian.
In a 2023 interview with SportBible, Defoe sang the praises of his former teammate, describing Modric as a “special” player.
During the interview, Defoe was asked to create a five-a-side team of the best players he had ever played with. In the midfield position he chose Modric, claiming it was an “easy” decision to include the Real Madrid man.
“I remember we played against Croatia for England. Stevie and Lamps played. They had some little guy in midfield and I remember just thinking, “Wow, this guy is special”. Just so silky with the ball, never lost the ball, and could receive the ball anywhere on the pitch.
“You just knew then he was going to be a world-class player,” Defoe added.
The former England striker also went on to say: “I obviously played with him at Tottenham for a few years and again he just made the game look easy, everything went through Luka.
“He is definitely one of the best players I have played with.”
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