Assou-Ekotto admits he’s only in it for the cash

SPURS defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto has admitted what most players would be afraid to say – he’s in it just for the money.

The Cameroon international said soccer wasn’t his passion, it was merely a job, and accused other footballers of “lying” in front of the TV cameras.

In a remarkably candid interview, Assou-Ekotto, who supplied the pass for Tom Huddlestone’s winning goal against Bolton on Saturday, attacked what he called the hypocrisy of the Premier League.

He says he knows players who will give their true opinion in the dressing room but who will say something entirely different when questioned in public.

“I can’t listen to people when they speak like that,” said Assou-Ekotto. “I hate lies. Me, I am not like that. I am honest all of the time, although the truth is not always good to say.”

The 26-year-old, who is expected to be in the Cameroon World Cup squad, is adamant that playing for the money doesn’t make him any less professional.

“I come to England where I knew nobody and didn’t speak English,” said Assou-Ekotto. “Why did I come here? For a job. A career is only 10, 15 years. It’s only a job. Yes, it’s a good, good job and I don’t say I hate football, but it’s not my passion.

“I arrive in the morning at the training ground at 10.30am and I start to be professional. I finish at one o’clock. When I am at work, I do my job 100%. But after, I am like a tourist in London.

“The president of my former club, Lens, said I left because I got more money in England, that I didn’t care about the shirt. All people, everyone, when they go to a job, it’s for the money. I don’t understand why, when I said I play for money, people were shocked. ‘Oh, he’s a mercenary.’ Every player is like that.

“Whatever attitude you bring to it, it doesn’t matter. As long as you are 100% professional, the coach can say ‘he is good enough’ and you are prepared to lose a tooth or an eye for the club, which I am.”

Assou-Ekotto compared life in the Premier League to being in a film. “It’s like a movie. Very bizarre. There are people around you only because you play football; the girls, the same.”

And he isn’t excited at the prospect of Spurs playing in the Champions League. “It would be good for the team, the club and the supporters... they’d enjoy it,” he said. “But for me, it would be just another set of games.”

He admitted to problems with former Spurs managers Martin Jol and Juande Ramos but said he enjoys a good relationship with Harry Redknapp. “With Harry, it’s cool,” he said. “We don’t speak a lot and he doesn’t care if I smile or if I know who the next team we play is. If I do my job well, it’s okay. He is doing simple things the previous managers couldn’t even think of.”

Assou-Ekotto, who was speaking to The Guardian, said he gets on well with Spurs team-mates Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe but admits “I don’t believe in friendships in football.”

Perhaps it’s just as well. He may find he has even fewer after his outspoken comments.