Tottenham face fight to keep leading lights, says manager Harry Redknapp

Facing a battle to keep his Spurs stars: Harry Redknapp
11 April 2012

Harry redknapp says Tottenham's wage structure means they might struggle to hang on to their best players even if they win the title this season.

His side will go joint top of the Premier League if they beat Wolves tomorrow, as leaders Manchester City do not play until Monday, when they go to Wigan.

Spurs' form - they have lost only once in 18 games since defeats by Manchester United and City in August - has their fans and players believing they can win the domestic crown for the first time since 1961 but Redknapp accepts this is no guarantee he will hang on to his stars.

Chairman Daniel Levy managed to keep Luka Modric at White Hart Lane last summer but the Croat knows he could have trebled his current salary if he had joined Chelsea.

Redknapp said: "Players play for a club and they enjoy being there but if someone offers them a contract that could blow their current one out of the water, it's very difficult.

"If someone offers to treble a player's wages, you've got a problem. What do you do?

"I'd be talking rubbish if I said people wanted to stay at Tottenham just because we're playing good football. If you want to keep the best players, we have to find a way of doing a deal that's near to what they would be able to earn elsewhere, otherwise it will be a problem.

"The day someone knocks on their door and offers £200,000 a week . . . I'm sure Samir Nasri enjoyed playing at Arsenal and the crowd loved him but Man City came along and wanted to give him £200,000 a week.

"There are few players who sign for a club at 15 and stay there until they finish playing. The top players never thought about leaving until late in
their careers but nowadays it's getting tougher. If you're a top player and someone wants to give them a fantastic contract, it's very hard to hang on to them."

Redknapp hopes Scott Parker will be fit to face Wolves after missing the last three matches with a knee problem but Sandro, William Gallas and Ledley King are still sidelined.

Asked again about his club's title chances, Redknapp added: "It's not impossible. It's very difficult and we're not the favourites but who would have talked about us being above Man United? It was beyond our wildest dreams.

"Now we've got a chance of achieving something special. It's very difficult but not impossible."

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