Nigeria Legend Taribo West Makes Shocking Revelation of How He Played for Auxerre “For Free

Legendary Nigeria defender, Taribo West, has made an astonishing revelation of how he played for Auxerre for four years ‘for free’. The former Super Eagles star played for the French outfit from 1993 to 1997, but did not know the full details of his contract.

In an interaction at Footballers Connect, the 48-year-old, who was advising young players on how to model their careers told them not to make his mistake.  

“I played in Auxerre for free,” West said as quoted by Goal. “I was playing under a contract for five years without knowing the content and conditions binding the contract,” he added.

“After the third year, Arsenal, Juventus, Glasgow Rangers and Sevilla Betis came for me. “I went to the coach starting that I wanted to leave but he sat me down and showed me my contract terms with Auxerre. I saw the details of what I had signed. Where my fellow defenders were earning as high as 120,000 French francs, I was going home with 3000 French francs.

“I wanted to set Auxerre on fire that day. Immediately, I called my manager who was turning me left and right [while] enjoying himself in Senegal.”

Taribo West was a key cog in the AJ Auxerre team of the nineties, and was part of the historic side that won the club’s only Ligue 1 title in 1996. The Nigerian left the following season to join Inter Milan before later playing for AC Milan, Derby County, Partizani, Al Arabi and Plymouth Argyle.