Football transfer news

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has revealed that he wouldn’t splash unnecessary cash when the January transfer window opens next month but will search the market for a “special” player.

Redknapp told Sky Sports News: ”We’ve got so many players here it would be hard fitting anybody in. We’re not too desperate for anything. We’re more than strong everywhere so unless it’s someone who’s a bit special I don’t think we’ll be doing too much.

”If someone’s there that we feel can make the difference – it might just be a character or leader or somebody who can give you something at the club. If that type of person’s available then we’d be interested, but at the moment we’re not closing in on anything.”

Redknapp, though, expects Newcastle United striker Andrew Carroll to remain at St. James’ Park and explained, ”He’s got fantastic potential. He’s a top player, no doubt – he’s a real handful and he’s taken the Premier League by storm the first half of the season.

”If he was available I think there’d be plenty of people want him because he’s an old-fashioned centre-forward, but I see [Newcastle manager] Alan Pardew wants to keep him and I don’t blame him so I don’t see him moving.”

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has rubbished talk of Luka Modric making a move to Chelsea.

Zdravko Mamic, the vice-president of the Croatian midfielder’s former club, Dinamo Zagreb, had previously been quoted as saying that Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti had made Modric his top transfer target.

But the White Hart Lane gaffer insisted otherwise, as he told reporters: “He [Modric] wasn’t going nowhere.

“He is just such a fantastic player, if we start selling Luka Modric we may as well all go home.

“He’s different class and he’s not going nowhere, not a chance, not a chance.

“He [Ancelotti] might have his eye on him but he isn’t going to get him that’s for sure.”

Redknapp also confirmed that striker Robbie Keane can leave the club, with the forward having been linked with moves to Birmingham City, West Ham United and Aston Villa.

“Robbie would like to move and he wants to play,” said the former Portsmouth boss. “He is a boy who has played all his career. He is not used to not playing.

“He is still a top player and would grace most clubs. It’s just that he has been unfortunate with Rafa [van der Vaart] coming in and I’ve been playing one up with him. I have Defoe, Crouch, Pavlyuchenko and Robbie so it’s been difficult getting him in the team. I haven’t heard anything about any offers for him though.”

The Spurs boss also ruled out the possibility of making a move for Blackburn Rovers defencer Chris Samba, who recently came out speaking of a desire to leave the club in protest of Sam Allardyce’s sacking.

“He [Samba] is a good player who has done a great job,” Redknapp said. “He has been a fantastic signing for Blackburn from Germany. But I am okay; I am strong at centre half. So he is not a player I would be looking to do anything with.”

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Manchester City midfielder David Silva says that the Premier League is “more entertaining and enjoyable” than the Spanish Primera Division.

Silva, who joined the ambitious English club from Valencia in the summer, told Man City’s official website, “Barcelona and Real Madrid are going well and have built up quite a lead. In England it is far more hard-fought.

“You could have any number of teams getting up there near the top. That makes for a more entertaining and enjoyable league.”

The Spain international reflected on his time at Eastlands so far and explained, “I have settled in but I owe a lot to my team-mates because they helped make the process a lot quicker.

“The games in England are very competitive. So many sides can make life very hard for you. It is a real challenge. But we are going OK at the moment. Now we must continue so we are in the final shake-up.”

The 24-year-old also remarked on his move from Spain to England and said, “City showed a real interest in me from the outset and they were the ones who made an offer for me.

“There was talk about Real Madrid, but it was never anything more than that, certainly nothing concrete. But I wanted to experience playing in the Premier League. It was something that really appealed to me.”

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“Benitez should have the intelligence to take advantage of my work that preceded him instead of wanting to change everything.”

“I have always done well whenever I got a new club and that is what Pep Guardiola did. For me, it means being a smart coach. A coach can not impose style he likes if it collides with the tradition of the country and the society in which they work. In any country club where I trained, I had to adapt to local philosophy and not vice versa. You can not go to coach in Italy and want to impose a Barcelona-style game, because it won’t work.”

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Leo Messi spoked about Newcastle’s Jonas Gutierrez:

“The Premier League have not seen it yet but Jonas is one of the best players in the league. I know you guys have Rooney, Fabregas, Torres and many more stars – but Jonas is as good as any of them. I am backing him to show it this season. Maradona calls him one of the three most important players in the Argentina squad and I think he is right – that is how good he is.

“It takes time for a player to adjust to a new country and he has now been there long enough to show his true form. By the end of the season I would expect the very best teams in Europe to be trying to sign him. But he told me during the World Cup that, as long as Newcastle stay in the top-flight, he would like to finish his career there.”

“I would expect the Spider-Man mask to be out quite a few times this season but his real talent comes in creating goals. He is a fantastic winger, can beat players with ease and is a fantastic crosser of the ball. If Newcastle have one or two good target men, I think they can have a really good season because Jonas will create a lot of chances for the strikers.

“He can fire Newcastle to a top-six finish and win the player of the season award above names like Rooney.”

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Stephen Ireland said a lot about Roberto Mancini, and Milner:

“I did feel unwanted at Manchester City. I was banging my head against a brick wall despite what I had done in training. I just went with the reserves, worked hard in the gym and kept as active as possible.”

“Without a shadow of doubt the situation I found myself in will happen a lot at Manchester City with all the high-profile players they have at the club. At Manchester City sitting on the bench I didn’t feel part of the team. I was neither happy nor sad if we lost. He must think the grass is greener on the other side but he’ll get a shook soon because it’s definitely not that way. I’ve really landed on my feet here.”

“James Milner sees the attraction of going to City, he obviously sees the players going there and he wants to be one of those so-called superstars and nail down his place in the England team, become more established and play 90 minutes for England. I can understand why he has gone there but I can tell him that I’m very happy to leave there and come here. Some people have used the phrase that I’ve been forced out; I couldn’t be happier to be forced to come here.”

“I don’t think loyalty is much in anyone’s mind at Manchester City. I felt like I would be next [to leave]. A lot of players felt like that as well – the homegrown guys. Mancini doesn’t really build relationships with players. He has everybody a bit on edge. He brought Patrick Vieira in and when I spoke to him [Vieira] about his relationship [with Mancini], he said he doesn’t really have one, and he’s worked for him for years. I think that’s the way he is.”

“I think that was really unfair, all the players know I was the first player into training and the last to leave. I worked the hardest. With all the heart-rate monitors and tests, I was always No.1, far ahead of everyone. You see the performance in training and I was practically always the best player in training. If [Mancini's] standing there watching that, I don’t know how he doesn’t see that.”

“Richard Dunne is a good example of what can happen after leaving Manchester City to join Villa. A year on I can see how happy he is at Villa and I’m hoping that I will be as happy in a year’s time. Richard was a huge part of Manchester City and it was a great shock to see him leave. It was as big a shock to him as everyone else but he could not have come to a better club as he proved with his performances last season.”

“For me this is a positive, as this is exactly how I want it to be. I’m still young and hopefully Villa will get the best of me and I am now looking forward to the season.”

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After romour that Dirk Kuyt will become player of Champions league winner, Italian FC Internazionale, Liverpool boss (Roy Hodgson) said:

“I spoked with Massimo Moratti who told me that they were looking Mascherano and Kuyt, but because of price, they won’t buy them.”

Last night, Massimo Moratti said:

“Kuyt is wish of Rafa Benitez, and we will try to bring him.”

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