• Premier League

Redknapp did not want to let Woodgate go

ESPNsoccernet staff
September 20, 2011
Jonathan Woodgate left Spurs in the summer © PA Photos
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Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp has admitted he wanted to keep Jonathan Woodgate at White Hart Lane.

Woodgate, 31, parted company with Tottenham this summer after his contract was not renewed by Spurs following a string of injury problems during this three-and-a-half years at the North London side.

After signing from Middlesbrough for £8 million in January 2008, Woodgate recorded just 49 Premier League starts before becoming a free agent at the end of last season when he subsequently joined Stoke City.

"There were problems with insurance; he [Woodgate] wasn't insured to train with us," Redknapp said. "It was tough [to let Woodgate go] because I knew that if he could get fit, and he was convinced he could, that we had a top-class centre-half, one of the best in the world.

"I wanted to keep him but I could understand it from the club's point of view. They had paid his wages for the last two years and he'd hardly played. So it wasn't easy. Full credit to Stoke. They've got him fit and he looks in good shape. He's a fantastic boy, and I just hope it goes great for him now."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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