Harry Redknapp: Spurs will not sell Gareth Bale to Inter at any price

Posted Saturday, January 29, 2011 by theguardian.com

• Tottenham manager will reject any approach
• Bale is 'special player' and 'match-changer'

Harry Redknapp: Spurs will not sell Gareth Bale to Inter at any price
Gareth Bale, the subject of interest from Internazionale, should not be let go for any price, said Spurs' manager, Harry Redknapp.

Harry Redknapp has said that Internazionale's attempt to buy Gareth Bale will fail, no matter how much money the Italian club offer. Tottenham are almost certain to reject any approach for a player who their manager says is one of "three or four" members of his squad able to decide the outcome of matches.

Redknapp compared the situation to that at West Ham in 2000, when Rio Ferdinand was sold to Leeds United for £18m, then a record fee for a transfer between British clubs. That move led to the break-up of a talented young squad and the Hammers were relegated two-and-a-half years later.

"You have special players in your team and if you're going to be a top team you've got to keep your top players," said Redknapp. "We can't go selling Gareth Bale, in all honesty. You've got three or four players who can make the difference and he's one of those players. If you lose him, how are you going to replace him? When he gets the ball, he can do something that no one else can do. You can't afford to lose him and if you sell him the moment you sell him it sends out the wrong signals.

"If we're going to be a big club, we're not going to sell Gareth Bale. We won't be selling Gareth Bale in the summer, I'm pretty certain of that. It's up to the chairman at the end of the day, but I'd be very surprised if we'd be interested in selling him at any price."

Redknapp said that the limited capacity at White Hart Lane, and the matchday income the club thus misses out on as a result, prevented Tottenham from competing for the most sought-after players. "The strikers we've looked at in this window, they keep coming back and saying, 'No, he's on £125,000, £130,000 a week,'" he said. "That's not possible for us. We can't. We just go, 'That's the end of that one.' We don't pay those wages and we're not going to pay them. The chairman runs the club as it should be run, he's not putting the club in hock, and we're still very successful. It's not a problem. I'm not criticising us for not doing it. All I'm saying is we're very close. If we had a 60,000-seat stadium then maybe we could go that extra bit, but it's very difficult."

But although the sale of Bale for £40m would provide Tottenham with sufficient extra income to compete with wages offered by the biggest clubs, at least temporarily, Redknapp said that it still would not be worthwhile.

"When I was at West Ham they sold Rio Ferdinand and that was the beginning of the end. Once you start selling the best young players you're no longer building a team, you're dismantling a team. We won't be doing that here. The chairman is ambitious and so are the owners. We're not going to sell Gareth Bale."

Bale will be absent from the Tottenham squad for Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round tie against Fulham, as a result of a back injury he sustained in last week's 1-1 Premier League draw at Newcastle, as will Wilson Palacios, who has a knee injury. Tom Huddlestone has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from an ankle problem and is now unlikely to be fit for the Champions League ties against Milan.

Redknapp will take his strongest possible squad to Craven Cottage. "We want to go there and get through if we can, for sure," he said. "I will field my best available team. It is a big game. We want to get through and we'll give it our best shot."

One player likely to be in the squad is Robbie Keane, who despite mooted moves to West Ham and Birmingham during the transfer window remains at Tottenham. "I'm not in a desperate rush to get rid of Robbie," said Redknapp. "I think he's a good player, and he would make the 25-man Premier League squad. I've got too much respect for Robbie Keane as a player and as a person to leave him out. If he's here, he's in the squad."