Paul Gascoigne is most remembered for his exploits with England after becoming a national hero for the Three Lions, but he played with some incredible players at club level too.
Growing up in Newcastle United’s youth ranks, ‘Gazza’ had popular spells at the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio and Rangers before joining a number of different clubs in the latter stages of his career.
Producing his best form whilst at White Hart Lane, it was during this spell where he starred for England at World Cup 1990, being in the peak of his powers at the young age of 23.
As a result, he played alongside some of the country’s best players during his time in North London.
And that has seen him name former England and Spurs teammate Chris Waddle as ‘unbelievable’ as he reminisced on his playing career.
Paul Gascoigne waxes lyrical over ‘lethal’ England and Tottenham teammate Chris Waddle
Waddle, like Gascoigne, was a midfielder from the North East of England, who embarked on spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham and abroad when being a key player for French giants Marseille.
The pair would have featured alongside one another in the final days of Waddle’s Newcastle career, rekindling at Tottenham for a year prior to Waddle’s move to Marseille, and they played together for four years at international level before former Three Lions gaffer Graham Taylor excluded Waddle from selection.
However, that was enough time for Gascoigne to wax lyrical over his former teammate. Gascoigne described his former teammate as ‘unbelievable’ and ‘lethal’, before throwing in a joke that he translated for him at Spurs due to Gascoigne’s thick Geordie accent.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Gascoigne said: “Yeah, unbelievable. He was lethal.
“He was fantastic. Especially at Tottenham, you know, when I followed at Tottenham, when he looked after us, because he had already been there a year. And I don’t know why, but I needed a translator.
“Well, I say, but no one could understand what I was saying, they were like ‘Chris, what is he saying?’
“Chris had the translator for us, it was embarrassing. But yeah, he was, what a player, when he dropped his shoulder, half a crowd went out the stadium.”
Often described as one of England’s most unsung and underrated players, it’s no surprise that someone who shared such a similar career to Waddle has sung his praises so much.
Chris Waddle’s career isn’t talked about enough after Tottenham move
Chris Waddle’s career often goes under the radar.
His move to Marseille from Tottenham for £4.5million made him the world’s third-most expensive player at the time, and having won three consecutive Ligue 1 titles, his time across the Channel was a success.
Even for England, he was a regular having featured in three major tournaments – World Cup 1986, Euro 1988 and World Cup 1990, though he will be remembered as the player who missed the decisive penalty in the semi-final against West Germany after firing over the bar.
Regardless, that form in the top-flight and in France has seen him go down as one of England’s most talented players of all-time. He may not have the grandeur and stories that Gascoigne has, but on talent, they were neck-and-neck.