10 Footballers Who Hated Football

While elite footballers not actually being in love with the game is clearly quite common, it is still considered something of a faux pas for an active player to come out and admit that their career is little more than, well... a career.

It's not surprising why players don't speak out; admitting that your primary motivation is financial is a quick way to have your own fans brandish you a mercenary, regardless of how it correlates to performances on the pitch.

Former Spurs and QPR full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto is one of the few players to buck the trend and admit that while he enjoys playing football with his friends at home in France, the professional game was little more than a job to him that he just happened to be able to do at an elite level, even explaining that he often didn't know what teams he was preparing to face on a weekly basis.

You can't fault him for his honesty.