• Premier League

Redknapp disappointed to miss out on Cahill

ESPNsoccernet staff
September 1, 2011
Harry Redknapp was typically busy on transfer deadline day © Getty Images
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Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has expressed his frustration at missing out on signing Gary Cahill, highlighting Bolton's valuation of the defender as the key stumbling block.

Spurs welcomed Scott Parker to the club and managed to resist the lure of a £40 million bid for Luka Modric, but the North Londoners were unable to prise Cahill away from the Reebok Stadium.

Trotters boss Owen Coyle was stubborn in his resistance to offers for Cahill throughout the transfer window and reaffirmed that stance earlier this week.

"The bottom line is, we don't have to be taking poor offers," Coyle said on Tuesday. "I would probably want more for Gary than would be accepted but it still has to be a good offer. I think Gary could play for anybody, so my valuation would be higher than anybody's."

And it was that valuation, which had already led to an offer from Arsenal being rejected, that also served to put off Spurs.

Asked whether the Cahill transfer fell through because of the valuation, Redknapp said: "Yes, more or less. That was the problem and in the end the deal was just a bit too difficult to do. We would have liked him.

"[QPR manager Neil Warnock] was looking to sign Seb [Bassong] on a loan deal or a semi-permanent deal almost but once Gary Cahill fell through we couldn't let him go.''

Bassong may have stayed at White Hart Lane but there were exits for Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios to Stoke, while David Bentley joined West Ham on a season-long loan and Jermaine Jenas and Alan Hutton departed to Aston Villa.

"They're all good lads,'' Redknapp said. "People like Crouchy and Wilson Palacios have been fantastic but it is difficult. You've only got 25 players in your squad and we had 29 this morning, which is too many. You can't name them all.''

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