Kaboul will always be remembered at White Hart Lane for his injury time leveller in Spurs' epic 4-4 draw with Aston Villa in October 2007
The France U21 captain arrived in England to much fanfare in the summer of 2007, having gained a reputation as ‘the next Marcel Desailly’ thanks to two years of impressive and solid displays at the heart of Auxerre’s defence.
A strong, yet cultured centre back, Kaboul is a talented player but seems to lack the kind of concentration required to play at the top level.
An early season injury crisis, which ruled out both Ledley King and Michael Dawson saw Kaboul thrown in at the Premier League deep end, partnering Tony Gardner at the heart of the defence for Spurs’ first two games of the season as the north London outfit slumped to back to back defeats to Sunderland and Everton.
The early signs were good as the Frenchman netted against Fulham and Cypriot side Famagusta in the UEFA Cup, but as things at White Hart Lane turned sour under Martin Jol, Kaboul’s formed suffered.
Returning to the side over the Christmas period, Kaboul looked far more assured but Juande Ramos favoured new signing Jonathan Woodgate at the back in the second half of the season, and Kaboul barely featured after appearing as a sub in Spurs’ Carling Cup final win over Chelsea.
Aston Villa and Sunderland were both heavily linked with signing the young defender through the close season, but he instead opted to join Harry Redknapp’s Pompey in August 2008.