Premier League - Redknapp: I wanted Barry

Eurosport - Fri, 05 Jun 14:52:00 2009

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has revealed he was in the hunt for Manchester City new boy Gareth Barry.

2008-2009 Tottenham Hotspur Harry Redknapp - 0

The England midfielder joined Mark Hughes' side from Aston Villa for £12million earlier this week.

"This week, I tried to sign Gareth Barry," Redknapp told The Sun. "I felt he would be a good addition for Spurs and I knew we had to make a decent offer for a top England player."

He added: "Liverpool were also prepared to make a big offer.

"But we have both been blown out of the water by Manchester City.

"They offered a far bigger transfer fee and are giving the lad much bigger wages. We could not get near."

Barry became the first of what is expected to be a clutch of big-money City signings this summer, and Redknapp believes their financial clout could help them win the Premier League title before long.

He added: "It wouldn't surprise me if they won the title quite soon as they seem to have more money than everybody else."

Redknapp also hit out at the money in football, saying: "While I benefit from a good wage, I'm embarrassed about it, to be honest. A lot of people in football are embarrassed."

PA Sport

Comment 4 - 23 of 23

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  1. why

    From BETHANY, on Sun 14 Jun 8:08AM
  2. A few weeks ago I sailed past Redkapp's house at­ Poole; worth a few millions! The truth is footballers­ are paid far too much now and clubs like Man City and­ Chelsea are bankrolled by greedy owners who want glory­ at all costs. In the long term, the club will suffer­ when the plug is pulled. As for Barry, I am suprised­ he gone to City,; I would have thought he would have­ gone to Liverpool or Spurs; clubs with a bit of­ history. I think Mark Hughes is a good manager and was­ an excellent player in his days but he's on­ borrowed time when and if he doesn't deliver the­ goods.

    From amidgley66, on Tue 9 Jun 8:04PM
  3. Don't miss the point of what 'Arry is­ saying

    his point is that everyone is well off in PL­ footy, but the way that MCFC are splashing cash around­ is embarrassing football in front of the world.

    Whilst­ everyone else is talking and thinking about cost­ cutting, citeh are spending like their money is on fire­ and they have to get rid of it. They are raising prices­ and showing off by buying other teams targets because­ they can. That is what is embarrassing. I feel­ embarrassed too on Citeh fans behalf cos they are gonna­ be SOOO upset when it all falls apart

    Nah - serves you­ right, you'll always be second to Manure no matter­ how much you spend or who you buy
    accept it and move on

    From ZougaTheFist, on Tue 9 Jun 10:48AM
  4. Beh H you muppett,

    this is not a story about your­ crappy West Spam - dirty chelsea offshoot rejects
    wait­ a month or two till there is a story of interest about­ your lot before posting your unwanted and ludicrous­ opinion, do you honestly think any of the even mediocre­ players you mention would be seen dead at Upton Park -­ not likely
    even your manager is ex chelsea. forever in­ the shadow of the scummy blues - how sad

    Gecko - I­ agree

    Doris Dazzler - boy, are you gonna feel silly­ when you win SFA and the A-Rabs bug out and leave you­ with a mismatch of overpriced 'stars' who­ can't play together. You lot will be the new­ Newcastle
    Find your own team stories to comment on and­ don't be Jealous cos you know Harry is better than­ Hughes

    From ZougaTheFist, on Tue 9 Jun 10:40AM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    don't worry spurs fan's,at least you have harry­ fish face ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

    From dorisdazzler, on Mon 8 Jun 6:30PM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    who care's what that ugly @#$% think's,his­­ house alone is worth about £10 million

    From dorisdazzler, on Mon 8 Jun 6:28PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    tuff luck fish face,mcfc are gonna be the new global­­ force in a few year's,anything that winds people­­ like you up is fine by me,it's hysterical ha ha ha­­ ha

    From dorisdazzler, on Mon 8 Jun 6:28PM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    tuff luck fish face,mcfc are gonna be the new global­ force in a few year's,anything that winds people­ like you up is fine by me,it's hysterical ha ha ha­ ha

    From dorisdazzler, on Sat 6 Jun 4:41PM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    who care's what that ugly @#$% think's,his­ house alone is worth about £10 million

    From dorisdazzler, on Sat 6 Jun 10:37AM
  10. It is not about Harry having too much say at all, even­ when he was a Spammer I rated Harry because he was­ Honest and would not hide his feelings, a lot of what­ he said is spot on however you look at it. The wage bit­ I am not so sure about, after all if he is so­ embarresed about it he could have given the extra 50k­ to Barry and everyone would be happy!

    From Stu, on Fri 5 Jun 6:55PM
  11. Hope Man City wins something soon. Otherwise the­ oilers will stop pumping the oil (money) into it and­ you find yourself another great club going down.

    From Silver N, on Fri 5 Jun 5:34PM
  12. Typical Rednapp he always has too much to say about­ other clubs and other clubs players. perhaps he gets­ paid extra for it, even more embarrassment hey Harry.­ coming from footballs greatest mercenery it makes a­ chap want to Puke.
    Mind your own business Harry ( but­ you did turn Spurs round last season I have too admit­ so do what your good at and don't be­ embarressed)
    GMH

    From not that kind of blue, on Fri 5 Jun 2:45PM
  13. I think we are silly not to make Radoslav Kovac and­­ David Di Michele's contracts permanent. Yes, they­­ aren't the worlds best players but they did their­­ job well whilst playing for us so why not keep­­ them.

    Another thing. Lets get rid of our chairman and­­ get a new one with lots of money to invest in bringing­­ more big names to Upton Park, after all, we deserve­ it.­ Especially now that we have Zola at the helm, he­ has­ some great contacts so could persuade other­ players to­ play for him, after all, who wouldn't­ want to play­ for one of the best plaers the world has­ ever seen.

    We­ need to buy players to boost our squad,­ becuase as we­ have seen from previous seasons, we have­ terrible luck­ in terms of injury. Here is a few names­ that I have­ thought of and why.

    WILLIAM GALLAS Arenal­ will not­ offer him a new contract so he would be a­ great signing­ for us and we could get him on a free­ transfer as well,­ he is better than Lucas Neill, oh­ and this is a message­ for him from me, STAY!!

    DAVID­ BENTLEY: He has had an­ appauling season at Spurs so­ why not sign him. We could­ get him cheap and Zola­ would work wonders on­ him.

    There is two names which I­ hope, if West Ham­ officials look at this, could take­ into consideration.­

    Would love to hear from anyone­ who has anyother ideas­ on who we could buy. I­ can't think of one as yet­ but we do need a 2nd­ keeper as Robert Green is the only­ one we have at the­ moment. Maybe Scott Carson or Craig­ Gordon, but I­ don't know would love to hear from­ you all.

    From Ben H, on Fri 5 Jun 2:20PM
  14. Well, Harry I applaud you for admitting to be­ embarrassed about your hyped up weekly wage.­ There's something you can do about it, initiate a­ campaign for footballers'(and managers) to have­ their salary capped. Take a pay cut and spread the word­ I will applaud you even more then.

    From phil_kasteel, on Fri 5 Jun 1:02PM
  15. embarrassed my arse, met him in a bookies in­ Bournemouth once, didnt seem too embarrassed then, cap­ them all!!!!

    From entertainmentexchange, on Fri 5 Jun 12:51PM
  16. libfutures, Spurs ditto. How much have you yids spent?­ Think b4 posting a comment!

    From Stephen, on Fri 5 Jun 12:26PM
  17. Gecko, tell us who you support so we can nit-pick at­ your team! Are those grapes sour in your mouth?? Blue­ Moon rising!!

    From Stephen, on Fri 5 Jun 12:08PM
  18. So you don't support Villa, Man City or Chelsea­ gecko_twister. So who do you support? It wouldn't­ be that other club in Manchester would it? ALL of the­ successful clubs have got to be successful by spending­ huge amounts of money to buy the best players­ available. They do not have a divine right to prevent­ another club from challenging their cosy little group­ at the top of the league by doing the same as they have­ done. I do support Man City, and I do hope that we will­ challenge for honours in the not too distant future.­ Any club with our financial clout would be doing­ exactly what we are doing, trying to buy success. It is­ jealous cr.ap when people like you keep bleating about­ City and their cash. How can it be sad for the game­ when there is a chance that the boring monotony of the­ same four clubs sharing the honours every year is about­ to be challenged. Maybe Portsmouth will be able to do­ the same now. I hope so.

    From michael.hardy11, on Fri 5 Jun 12:03PM
  19. Not a surprise barry did what he did, just wonder how­ much time before he'll win anything ? Does that­ mean he wasn't willing to take a lower wage at­ liverpool who are in the CL and title contenders ??

    From ispurs, on Fri 5 Jun 12:01PM
  20. really makes me laugh how many people say things like..­ such and such is only at city for the money.­ They're all at premiership clubs for the money.­ They all earn stupid money no matter where they are so­ why is it all citys fault now we have money. I'd­ play for my local pub team if they were willing to give­ me £60K a week!!!

    From jaydiekate, on Fri 5 Jun 11:48AM
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