Tottenham ace 'refused £29k watch' from Samuel Eto’o as he “could buy his own”

dailystar.co.uk:

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland gifted each teammate at Borussia Dortmund a Rolex estimated to be worth between £11,000 and £13,000.

However, the towering Norwegian may have had one timepiece left-over if former Tottenham ace Benoit Assou-Ekotto played alongside him, as the Cameroonian allegedly refused a similar gift from international teammate Samuel Eto’o.

The Barcelona and Inter Milan legend once bought each of his Cameroonian compatriots a £29,000 watch when they qualified for the 2014 World Cup.

This act of goodwill and appreciation for such a huge achievement cost Eto’o an eye-watering £900,000. Yet, this kind and extremely expensive gesture was lost on Assou-Ekotto as he reportedly said ‘I can buy my own’ when he was offered the watch. “I have yes, Samuel Eto’o did that for the Cameroonian national team,” Crouch said to ‘That Peter Crouch podcast’ when asked if he had ever heard of a team-mate or player send all of his teammates a gift. “I only remember that because Assou-Ekotto turned it down. “He just said, ‘I’ll buy my own watch thanks’.” Considering previous anecdotes surrounding the ex-defender, this story may not raise too many eyebrows.