Portsmouth Football Club News

• Nickname:Pompey
• Founded:1898
• Manager:Michael Appleton

• Ground:Fratton Park
• Capacity:19,179

Harry aims to keep Kanu

24 Sep 2007 - 11:53:17

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Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp hopes to tie Kanu down to a new contract at the end of the season.

The former Arsenal and West Brom forward scored the only goal of the game in Pompey's victory at previously unbeaten Blackburn Rovers on Sunday and impressed Redknapp.

Kanu had been linked with a move away from Fratton Park in the summer, but Redknapp insists he never wanted to lose the Nigerian striker.

He said: "I always wanted to keep him, but he was looking at two years (on his contract). So I said he could have a year and, if he played 20 games, I saw that as a fair deal for him.

"It was then just a matter of convincing him, so I said to him, 'If you don't play 20 games then you're not worth another year.'

"Then I added, 'But you will play 20 games because you're still good enough'.

"In the end he was okay with that, and that's the deal he got. He's since played in every game bar one.

"You can imagine what he was like when he was 20 because he's a great talent, a special talent. You watch him in training and he can do things with the ball that are just amazing.

"But then you don't play for AC Milan, Ajax and Arsenal if you're not a good player, and he's been a top, top player."