Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Darren Bent has recounted a moment when Kevin-Prince Boateng scored an audacious goal in training while he was on the books of the north London club.
The 33-year-old Ghanaian joined the Lillywhites from Hertha Berlin in 2007 but was not a regular name in the first team, making a total of 14 appearances in two years in between a loan spell at German club Borussia Dortmund, scoring no goals at all.
Boateng, however, showed his powerful skills in training which he was proud of and questioned himself why he wasn’t featuring on a regular basis.
“I remember a session at Spurs with Kevin-Prince Boateng,” Bent said on TalkSPORT.
“Now he’s kind of an out-there character and when he was at Spurs, he didn’t really play.
“I remember him scoring this absolute worldie goal from about 35 yards, a volley, he screamed out at the top of his voice, ‘how does this guy not play?’.
“He was talking about himself! We all laughed. The gaffer might have been Juande Ramos at the time.”
Boateng moved on to Portsmouth in 2009 spending one season but playing more, 27 in all competitions, scoring five goals and providing three assists. He then moved on to AC Milan which was the most successful stint of his career with 114 appearances and two titles.
The Berlin-born player had previously revealed Manchester United had the chance to sign him, but then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson turned down the offer because he was not certain of his best position.
“Nobody knows that after Milan, I had the opportunity to join Manchester United, but Sir Alex Ferguson asked himself, ‘what position am I meant to play him in?’” Boateng told Goal and DAZN.
“I was a jack of all trades in his view and master of none.
“The transfer was abandoned and I started to focus on being more specific in my approach.
“I like the idea of playing as a false nine and have been considered a bit of a joker in the pack for years now.
“It can be an advantage, but also damaging to change roles all the time,”
Boateng is presently at Fiorentina and spent the second half of the 2019-20 season at Besiktas, scoring three goals in 11 Turkish Super Lig outings. He notably also scored a sensational volley in training while with the Istanbul giants.
