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Football

01st Feb 2018

Harry Redknapp explains how he forced player to join Man City who was desperate not to go

"Please...don't make me go there"

Robert Redmond

Harry Redknapp may not like his “wheeler dealer” reputation, but stories like this show that he knew how to get a good deal in the transfer market.

The former Tottenham manager was on BT Sport on Wednesday night, alongside Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard, and the topic of players trying to force a move came up. However, Harry had a different experience – he was a manager trying to force a player to leave.

Redknapp recalled the time he somehow sold former Portsmouth striker Benjani to Man City for £9.5m. Back in the 2007/08 Premier League season, Benjani was in excellent form for Portsmouth, scoring 12 goals in 27 games. But when City made their interest known for the then 29-year-old, the Portsmouth manager felt he couldn’t refuse the money on offer.

The only problem was convincing Benjani to leave. “I had to shove him out of the door,” Redknapp said of his former player.

Harry has told this story before, and we’re sure he’ll tell it again during the next transfer window