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Ex-Spurs star Benoit Assou-Ekotto buys €30 boots from eBay

As he's proved several times over, Benoit Assou-Ekotto is not your average professional footballer.

Indeed, the former Tottenham left-back makes no secret of the fact that he doesn't really enjoy the sport and regards his chosen vocation as a job to pay the bills and nothing more.

As such, it should come as little surprise that Assou-Ekotto also chooses to eschew the commercial side of game as well.

At odds with the rest of the football world, the 32-year-old former Cameroon international has openly renounced lucrative kit sponsorship deals in favour of playing in the cheap boots he buys himself online.

"In all honesty, when you're an African player, it's not that interesting to have a sponsor," he told Canal+.

"When you're European, it's better because business is done in Europe."

The Saint-Etienne defender went on to explain that he acquires his gear the same way most regular people do: by trawling through Ebay listings to find himself a bargain.

"I buy shoes for €30 (approx £23). It's a good price for comfortable boots. You can find them on Ebay, and they're not expensive," he continued.

"Being fashionable is expensive, but you're more distinguished to be vintage."