There may be ruthlessness in the way Arsenal have exploited loopholes to sign young foreign players cheaply, but poaching the most promising players in France is no longer only their preserve, as Tottenham Hotspur demonstrated when they took Adel Taarabt from under the noses of their North London rivals.

Martin Jol has stuck his neck out and compared his skills to those of Zinédine Zidane, Robbie Keane has nicknamed him “Zizou Junior”, while Younès Kaboul, his team-mate and housemate, simply wants to know what he is cooking them for dinner.

Certainly Taarabt would appear to be a dish best served cold, coming off the substitutes’ bench on his debut last season and slicing through the West Ham United defence to earn a free kick that led to a remarkable 4-3 win at Upton Park.

He has yet to play more than 26 minutes in any of his five substitute appearances so far, but there are still numerous clips of him on YouTube and the internet, such as a video of him forcing Petr Cech, the Chelsea goalkeeper, into a low save last season and a compilation of his dribbles in the 4-0 Barclays Premier League victory over Derby County last month.

Swift and fleet-footed, he has the capability to shuffle fans to the edge of their seats and Spurs fans may get another glimpse of his exciting talents against Middlesbrough in the Carling Cup third-round tie at White Hart Lane this evening. Tottenham have had an excess of this type of player in years past, but, at 18, there is time to channel his overelaboration and self-indulgence into an end product.

Ricardo Moniz, the Tottenham skills coach, has been reminding the 18-year-old to keep it simple. “I love getting the ball and running at people,” Taarabt said. “It started when I was playing in the streets [in Marseilles], I have always attacked. The supporters love it and that’s what I try and do when I come on. I wasn’t nervous playing when I played against Chelsea. I was stunned and excited. I got given a nice welcome when Claude Makelele made his first tackle [on me].”

He has mainly played on the left but would prefer to play behind the two strikers. “It’s not my position [on the left],” Taarabt told Hotspur magazine. “But if the coach asks me to play there then I will give 100 per cent. I think I’ve got good technique. I play with both feet, but my heading skills are not the greatest. I am not to keen on defending, but my strongest point is dribbling and taking people on.

“I have to please the fans, otherwise I am in trouble. Playing with the team always helps improve your confidence and now it’s up to me to show that I am worth a starting place.”

Taarabt made a permanent move in the summer after a loan spell from Lens, whom he had joined at 11. Damien Comolli, the Tottenham sporting director who once earmarked players for Arsenal, had watched him on several occasions.

“I didn’t know much about this club, but I did know Spurs were one of the top five teams in England,” Taarabt, who has represented France at under-16, under-17 and under-18 level, said. “I had heard of Damien Comolli, who contacted me. I spoke to Chelsea and Manchester United, but I am realistic. I thought I could develop quicker at Spurs. In France, it is like a chess game, with far more tactics, but here it is more open, very fast.”

He was born in Morocco, but within a year moved to Marseilles, where his father worked as a building contractor. Taarabt played football with his brother. “My father wasn’t really into it in the early days, but when all my friends started saying I was a fantastic player when I was very young, my father said, ‘You must be joking,’ ” he said. “My father then came to see me play, realised I had a special talent, and started liking the game. Everyone then told me I was going to be a footballer, so that was what I was going to be. My passion has always been football. That’s what I have always focused on.”

On his bedroom wall he had posters of his hero, Zidane, the son of an Algerian immigrant who grew up in Marseilles, an artist whose skills he mimicked. Years later, Taarabt was given the same nickname, “Zizou”, by some of his team-mates at Lens. His agent, Rudy Raba, has gone a step farther, claiming that the player can be the new Zidane.

“I am hoping to become that but it is my agent’s opinion,” Taarabt said. “Other people have said this as well. I just want to reach that level.”

Read the full interview with Taarabt in Spurs' monthly magazine, Hotspur, on Friday.