Harry Redknapp 'broke all rules' when signing Defoe - but set to avoid FA rap
Former Portsmouth and Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has admitted he may have broken rules when Jermain Defoe moved between the clubs, if the striker's recollection of the move is correct.
Defoe started his career under Redknapp at West Ham before later being reunited with the boss at Portsmouth and Tottenham. However, the striker - speaking in his new documentary - claims a call from Redknapp preceded his move to Fratton Park.
Reflecting on the incident, the 76-year-old former boss suggests such a move would have been against the rules. However, the move went through, and Defoe then returned to North London 12 months later after Redknapp himself had taken over at White Hart Lane.
According to The Mail, though, Redknapp is not expected to face any further punishment. Previously, the FA opened a probe into the move, in relation to the alleged use of unlicensed intermediaries rather than any contact between Redknapp and Defoe, but the same publication reports that this case has since been closed.
"If he was under contract at Tottenham, he can’t be talking to me. I could be called up before the FA over this." Redknapp says in the documentary 'Defoe', in cinemas on February 29. He admits Defoe's version of events is "probably" accurate and that such behaviour from him, if true, would mean he was "breaking all the rules".
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Defoe scored 17 goals in 36 appearances for Portsmouth, though he played no part in their victorious FA Cup run in 2008 as he was cup-tied. He returned to Spurs in January 2009, staying there until Toronto FC came calling five years later.
Later in the documentary, Defoe also recalls a text from Sunderland boss Gus Poyet - a former team-mate at Spurs - before his move from Toronto to the Stadium of Light. "The text said, 'Have we got a chance? Gus'. So I said to Gus, 'If you speak to Toronto, I’ve got permission to talk. I’d love to be back in the Premier League'."
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Jermain Defoe spent a year at Portsmouth before returning to Tottenham (PA)"I don’t think there is any transfer that has ever been done in the history of transfers where the manager or somebody at the football club hasn’t spoken to the player or the agent before the deal’s done. It’s just standard," Redknapp told the Mail. "That’s what happens. Anybody who thinks it doesn’t is not in the real world.
"There is always someone speaking to the player or speaking to the agent before you ever meet officially. Of course it happens. It has happened for ever."
Redknapp has been out of the game for several years, with his most recent managerial spell coming at Birmingham City in 2017. However, he offered to help out former club Spurs last season after Antonio Conte and Cristian Stellini were dismissed in short order.
Harry Redknapp's last managerial role was at Birmingham in 2017 (Getty Images)“If someone asks you, I think it would be hard to say no, I’ll be truthful,” Redknapp told talkSPORT in March. Spurs appointed Ryan Mason as caretaker boss, but the ex-midfielder didn't call upon the man who had given him his playing debut in 2008.
“When you love it, you do find it hard to say no, as Roy and Neil would agree,” Redknapp added, referring to Roy Hodgson and Neil Warnock taking jobs in their 70s. However he confirmed chairman Daniel Levy hadn't been in touch.
"You look at what you’re doing now, sitting around, having a game of golf, and it’s not the money, it’s the challenge," he added. "You love it, the buzz of it, winning a game is a fantastic feeling. It’s hard to say no.”
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