Kevin-Prince Boateng arrives for his interview with FourFourTwo having just played one of his Hertha team-mates at table tennis. “Did you win?” we ask. “Of course,” he replies, wearing a wry smile. That natural self-confidence hasn’t dimmed in his final season as a professional.
At 35 years of age, Boateng feels he still has another chapter to write in his story. That’s not to say he has regrets, however, after a playing career that’s taken the midfielder to a dozen clubs across Europe’s four biggest leagues, from the giants of Barcelona and Milan to a pair of hipsters’ favourites in Sassuolo and Las Palmas. Now it ends where it all began as a seven-year-old, in the blue half of Berlin.
Boateng has been drawn to some of football’s most colourful characters in his time, be it Harry Redknapp or Mario Balotelli, but he has no interest whatsoever in rehashing the same old lines and anecdotes from interviews immemorial. Tales of misdemeanours, spending sprees and infamous nights out as a brash, young player represent just a small fraction of his remarkable career in the game.
Today, the former Tottenham and Portsmouth upstart appears fully at ease with himself, declaring himself very impressed by the St George’s Park facilities in Staffordshire – this is his first visit – and remaining relaxed even when a hot espresso nearly lands in his lap. Crisis averted, he is in good spirits to tackle your questions…
How would you describe your early career in the youth setups at Hertha Berlin [below] and Germany? I saw you in the 2005 European Under-19 Championship in Northern Ireland, and you were brilliant.
sunsetsinmyhair, via Instagram
Without wanting to sound arrogant, I was without doubt one of the biggest talents in Europe. But I was lazy! I just let my talent do the work. Achilles was perfect but he had a bad Achilles, and I was great but a lazy little boy! That’s the biggest regret from my youth days: I didn’t push myself, or have anyone to push me. I’ve had a brilliant career but I definitely could have done more, on the bigger stage, for a longer time. But I learned a lot and now I can give that to young players.
How did your move to Spurs happen?
Danny Moxon, via email
It was quick, because I’d told Hertha’s president I wanted to leave. I wanted to go to Sevilla and spoke to Juande Ramos, their coach, but they wouldn’t pay what Tottenham would, so within two days I had to take off for London. It was funny when Ramos became my coach at Spurs [three months later], because he was still mad at me for not going to Sevilla. I was like, “Who cares? We’re both here now!”
I think it was very important for
