Premier League - Redknapp: We don't need to sell

Eurosport - Mon, 29 Sep 10:23:00 2008

Harry Redknapp insisted his club have "fantastic assets on the pitch" after Portsmouth denied they are up for sale due to massive debts.

2008 Portsmouth Harry Redknapp - 0

Jermain Defoe scored a 34th-minute penalty and Peter Crouch was also on target as Pompey claimed a 2-0 victory over hapless Tottenham in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday.

It had been reported Pompey owner Alexandre Gaydamak was set to sell after accruing large debts by paying huge wages to players signed by Redknapp at a cost of more than £60million in transfer fees over the last two years.

But Redknapp said: "Show me any club that is not up for sale if they are offered fantastic money. I bet every club has a price on it. Nobody is making millions.

"But we have fantastic assets out on the pitch. And I spoke to the owner today and he said we don't have to sell anybody or anything, unless we want to bring in somebody better.

"I wouldn't have a clue how much players here earn or what contracts they've got. It's not my job to know. All that is done by (chief executive) Peter Storrie and the owner.

"But I could have sold (Lassana) Diarra for £15million on transfer deadline day and didn't do it. I'm not saying who made that bid because he might want to go there if he found out. He's worth more than that.

"But I also sold Benjani (Mwaruwari), who I love, last season because we wanted to get Defoe, who is younger. And I'm delighted Spurs sold him to me. We needed him and it was nice to see him score again. He's been very sharp."

Sporting Life / Eurosport

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  1. Pompy are a great example of what can be achieved with­ decent man management and hard work. Good on them, im a­ neutral to the premier league but have admired­ portsmouth for sometime since Harry took them by the­ scruff of the neck.

    From hondasales, on Mon 29 Sep 10:16PM

  2. I would LOVE to see Portsmouth competing with the likes­ of the big four but to do this they MUST be taken over­ by rich, foreign owners.

    From hjkemp21, on Mon 29 Sep 9:10PM

  3. In reply to Chris 1, "Pompey are a joke. Redknapp­ is a joke & overrated jerk" etc. Was winning­ the F.A.Cup a joke?. Is turning the club into a viable­ premiership outfit on a shoestring budget a joke?. Is­ getting them into Europe for the first time ever a­ joke?. If David James is over the hill, why has Fabio­ Capello agreed with Redknapp & put him back in the­ England team?. It is true that Pompey desperately need­ a larger stadium & you wouldn't think can carry­ on in the premiership indefinitely on 20,0000 gates,­ but your the joke you plonker!.

    From frank, on Mon 29 Sep 5:11PM

  4. Odd thing to say below about Arsenal not being up for­ sale... you only have to look back about 2 years to see­ there was a huge amount of discussion on the potential­ sale of the club and all its assets for £350Million...­ At the end of the day all clubs these days are simply­ businesses... and businesses can be bought and sold if­ the price is right.

    Below is a better account of how­ even one of the big four is suffering in the current­ credit climate - bare in mind Arsenal have another 17­ years of debt relief to pay off on loans from the­ stadium... so even they aren't in all that great­ shape financially - they'll soon be a­ player-selling club by the looks of it.

    (From Reuters­ previously...)
    LONDON (Reuters) - Premier League club­ Arsenal said on Monday annual pretax profit dropped 65­ percent to 5.6 million pounds from 15.9 million last­ year as the club refinanced the debt it borrowed to­ build its Emirates stadium.

    The club said revenues,­ however, had risen to 200.8 million pounds from 137.2­ million a year ago thanks to the new 60,000 seater­ stadium.

    The result would have been worse but for the­ sale of talismanic striker Thierry Henry.

    From Andy, on Mon 29 Sep 4:59PM

  5. Agree wholeheartedly Nothing Man.

    I am 100% Pompey,­ but we have to be realistic as a club. With a stadium­ holding only 20,000 and paying out £60 million a year­ in wages, sooner or later this would happen for­ us.

    However, all the time we stay in the premier­ league, with a minimum prize money with TV revenue of­ around £50-£60 million we can tread water.

    But Harry­ hit the nail on the head. All Premier league clubs are­ for sale. What Man City fan would have thought they­ would be sold a year after Shinawatra came in?­ None.

    As for the insignificant team down the road from­ us, no money, half full stadium and kids in the team,­ going out of business, oh how the boot is on the other­ foot scummers!

    From pompey_bob, on Mon 29 Sep 4:42PM

  6. Some utterly stupid comments here! Probably from­ equally stupid people, or should I say kids!

    Im not a­ Portsmouth fan, but Portsmouth is a well organized club­ with one of the best managers around! And everything­ Harry sad stands. Every club has its price, Im a gunner­ but all of you idiots really think Arsenall wouldnt be­ sold if someone offered lets say billion pounds?! It­ would be stupid not to sell!

    From NothingMan, on Mon 29 Sep 12:10PM

  7. WHAT A LOAD OF COMPLETE MUPPETS ALL YOU SCUMMERS ARE.­ HAVEN'T YOU GOT IT INTO YOUR HEADS YET THAT WE­ PREMIERSHIP CLUBS HAVE NOT THE SLIGHTEST INTEREST WHAT­ YOU THINK ABOUT ANYTHING. YOU SHOULD BE MORE WORRIED­ ABOUT HOW YOU ARE GOING TO STAY OUT OF ADMINISTRATION­ OR WHEN RUPERT IS GOING TO SELL HIS NEXT ANNUAL.

    From KEN C, on Mon 29 Sep 11:35AM

  8. @ all of you slagging off Harry..!! I'm not a­ Pompey fan.. but I know this much.. the man is a top­ class manager.! and I bet ALL of you support clubs­ that haven't won or achieved anything of­ significance for years.! so all of you shut it,.!

    From , on Mon 29 Sep 10:56AM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    redknap is a joke pompey are a joke redknap spends­ money on has beens and thinks james is a world class­ keeper pompey big club! gates of 20,000 on a sunday­ lunchtime sounds more like championship gatees which is­ where they will be when the rusky gets fed up of­ wasting his money, look what arry has done with his­ other clubs answer nothing the guy is an overated jerk­ chris from pompey

    From chris l, on Mon 29 Sep 10:44AM

  10. Redtaz i bet your fat

    From Michelin man, on Mon 29 Sep 10:30AM

  11. Braveheart is a class one muppet.

    From Stoo Hardman, on Mon 29 Sep 10:17AM

  12. all you lot slagging off pompey should be shot...

    From redtaz77, on Mon 29 Sep 10:13AM

  13. Pompey are going to bankrupt hahaha maybe they then all­ there african players will go to arsenal

    From Michelin man, on Mon 29 Sep 9:46AM

  14. Hmm, Harry is on the whiskey again. Arsenal is not for­ sale at any price. They are also making millions in­ profit. Mr. Rednapp,i admit you know a lot about your­ club but you don't know about others so think­ properly before making rash statements.

    From Misi, on Mon 29 Sep 9:45AM

  15. Keeps all non-footballing issues to a­ minimum?

    That's because he doesn't know much­ about anything but football.

    Is the side back on­ track then?

    From Oldster, on Mon 29 Sep 9:38AM

  16. Pompey are a disgusting no ability side that never­ deserves to be where they are

    From Braveheart, on Mon 29 Sep 9:38AM

  17. up the POMPEY..!! good ol 'Arry..! diplomatic as­ ever. keeps all non footballing issues to a­ minimum.!

    europe next year and maybe a good FA cup run­ should help the coffers.!

    From , on Mon 29 Sep 8:50AM
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