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Spurs new boy David Bentley wants to follow in the same foot steps as his boyhood idol Paul Gascoigne at White Hart Lane.

The former Arsenal man completed his £17million move from Blackburn yesterday and straight away revealed how he use to stand in ore watching Gazza at Tottenham when he was a youngster.

He said: “Gascoigne was my favourite player growing up. The first football top I ever got was a Tottenham shirt with his name on the back.

“Gazza was great, a footballer who enjoyed his football, enjoyed his life and just played with that freedom. A lot of players looked up to him.”

“I’d love to be an entertainer like Gascoigne. I desperately want that. But I know I have to start off by earning the right.

“First of all I have to earn my right to be at this football club, a club that is in my heart. My aim is to have fans come and enjoy watching me perform for the team I’ve dreamed of playing for. “ The England winger admitted that while he would have loved to have joined Spurs when he was a kid, it was their bitter rivals that discovered his talents.

He continued : “No one from Spurs scouted me at all, though I lived just up the road. All my mates gave me some stick when I went to Arsenal but I have to say it was a great environment to grow up in.

“I was coming through at the time of the Invincible team, which went an entire season unbeaten in 2003-04 and set record after record.

“I just wanted to play regular first-team football. It has never been about money with me.

“No one forced me to leave but Blackburn offered me what I wanted — a real chance to play.

“Once I knew Spurs were in and interested — I’ll be honest and admit I thought I’d never end up here — there was only ever going to be one team I’d sign for.

“I was trying my nuts off to get here. Every day I was going through it, on the phone, trying my hardest to come here.

“My friends are all season ticket holders and they were on the phone to me every day. It has been an emotional time for me.

“All my mates, the Tottenham boys, loved it, absolutely loved it when I signed. They all have Tottenham tattoos up their arms and down their legs. They’re mad fans.

“They kept phoning to tell me ‘You’ve got to come to Tottenham’. I told them ‘I want to but they don’t want me’.

“It means the world to come here. My head and all my passion will be channelled into doing well for Tottenham. My mates are buzzing now — just like me.”