Rate it!

25 votes

How old school is Harry Redknapp? Very. You see, 'Arry likes what he knows, and knows what he likes.

The Tottenham boss proved it by bringing former charge Jermain Defoe back to White Hart Lane just a couple of months after 'Arry swapped Portsmouth for North London.

And Redknapp has again targeted the familiar on his summer shopping list, this time as he sets his sights on former Pompey midfielder Sulley Muntari.

The Ghana international left Fratton Park for Internazionale for £14 million last summer, leaving Pompey with a nice fat £7m profit. That kind of turnaround proved far too tempting, even for Redknapp who was, and remains, a keen admirer of the powerful 24-year-old.

But Muntari's potential arrival at the Lane could come at a cost - a Jermaine Jenas-sized-and-shaped cost.

Inter boss Jose Mourinho revealed his admiration for the England midfielder in January and, according to the Daily Mirror, still wants him in his plans at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

A swap deal could be in the offing, especially as Redknapp is prepared to cull his squad in the summer, with the likes of weekend scorer Jenas - who is no longer considered first choice - first in the firing line.

Speaking of firing lines, the mercurial (in the volatile sense) Joey Barton's latest moment of madness seems likely to see him moved on at the end of the season.

For those who were in a cave over the weekend, the Newcastle midfielder was dismissed for a wild two-footed lunge on Liverpool's Xabi Alonso, prompting the Spaniard's withdrawal on a stretcher and the now-familiar character assassinations of Barton in the media.

Toon boss Alan Shearer - never one to lose his cool on a football pitch, oh no - was left fuming by Barton's stupidity, which will now see him miss most of the title run-in and may yet see him shipped out in the summer.

Shearer raged: "He let me down, himself down and the football club down.

"Disciplinary-wise, what will I do? We will do what we can," he added, an evil glint in his eye as his finger hovered over a button labelled 'eject'.

The question is, who would be silly enough to take on Barton? The man is, after all, currently less popular than even a Mexican pig farmer with a rasping cough playing a game of kiss-catch. Short of Mad Jack McMad somehow taking over a top-flight football club and taking a punt on him, Barton's hopes of winning another contract elsewhere appear slim at best.

To the scene of Barton's latest indiscretion, Liverpool, where Lucas Leiva's days seem to be numbered.

The Brazilian has never been the most popular on the Kop, and Rafael Benitez could be prepared to release him in the summer. Amid interest from Spain and Italy, a fee of £6m has been touted, which may come as a bit of a nice surprise to Liverpool fans, who mostly rate him on a par with, say, Mohamed Shawky or Dean Marney.

That money could go towards Alvaro Negredo, a 19-goal hotshot plying his trade in La Liga. The 24-year-old Almeria ace is also being tracked by Fulham and Aston Villa, but if Liverpool can stump up £9.8m - the reported asking price - they should land their man.

In other news, Manchester City are set to loan out Joe Hart to newly-promoted Birmingham City, who are willing to pay an unusual £1m loan fee for the keeper.

And finally, Martin O'Neill says he is confident Villa can survive another off-season without losing any players to the Premier League bigwigs.

He said: "I am quite sure I would be surprised if some people were not inquiring about our players - big teams - but I am hoping we will be able to withstand that."

Eurosport