Troost-Ekong explains how Tottenham rejection became his biggest motivation

William Troost-Ekong is the vice-captain of the Super Eagles of Nigeria and plays in the Premier League with Watford.

The 28-year-old center-back started his development with the youth team of Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur.

Many people are aware that Ekong did not make the grade at Tottenham but are not familiar with his struggles to become a professional footballer.

Ekong is now a star with the Nigerian national team after being selected to the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

In an interview with Baller Talk, Ekong stated how being rejected by Tottenham served as his biggest motivation to succeed in the sport.

Ekong explained that during his time at the Tottenham youth team, his coach made a prediction that he will never make it as a professional footballer.

The comments by the coach not only made Ekong's mother upset but also served as motivation for the rest of his career.

Things did not immediately get better after Tottenham as Ekong was unable to get minutes with Celtic in Scotland after being signed to replace Virgil van Dijk.

Speaking about his rejection Ekong said, "I remember one time he had a meeting with my mom, I think it was after my first year as a scholar and he was like I'm going to be really honest to my mom, Will's miles off it and at this rate I can't see him playing even non-league football, League Two, League One.

"I felt like crying and I remember seeing my mom, my mom was upset, I've never seen her like that because she backed me against my dad's will to sign for Spurs at the time.

"I came to England originally to go to school, I went to boarding school which is thoughtful, so was already like a big deal that she did that for me, and then all of a sudden after one year she's hearing like this is not really working out so that was the biggest motivation.

"From that moment on I was like Will you need to sort yourself out and that was the chip on my shoulder every time to be like I am going to show everyone, I'm going to show everyone."

Ekong continued to get better featuring for Dordrecht, KAA Gent and Haugesund.

He made a name for himself in Turkey with Bursaspor which earned him a move to the Italian Serie A side Udinese before returning to England with Watford.