Tottenham failed in an audacious bid to sign Manchester City maverick Carlos Tevez in January, Harry Redknapp has confirmed.
Having fallen out with Roberto Mancini after apparently refusing to come off the bench at Bayern Munich, Tevez went AWOL for three months towards the end of last year and the City boss said the Argentina striker would not play for the club again.
It is not known whether Tevez would have been keen on a move to Spurs, who were then keeping pace with City in the title race, but a potential deal would not have happened anyway due to the forward's wage demands. "I said to the chairman 'can you get me Carlos Tevez?'," Redknapp said.
"Daniel made some enquiries, but it wasn't doable. If he could have done it, he would have. He (Levy) would have loved Tevez, but it wasn't possible because his wages are £200,000 a week. It's not possible at Tottenham to buy him.
"He is a fantastic player. When he puts a shirt on he doesn't stop running, working, he's enthusiastic, he can play and he can score goals."
Soon after the transfer window shut in January, Tottenham's season began to unravel. After being in a position to move top at the turn of the year, Redknapp's team now find themselves fifth in the Barclays Premier League after a run of one win in nine.
Tottenham defender Vedran Corluka, who is on loan at Bayer Leverkusen, risked his manager's ire on Thursday when he claimed that the north London side could finish as low as sixth because of his failure to rotate.
Redknapp changed his team less than any other top-flight manager over the festive period, but he robustly denied Corluka's claims that his players are worn out after not being rested.
"No players have ever come to me and said they felt tired," Redknapp said. "Some of their stats have gone down because they have not wanted to run about enough - it's not because they are knackered.
"The players have probably played on average 30 games this year and I don't think is a lot. I don't ever remember Bobby Moore getting rotated, nor Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters, Dave Mackay or Alan Mullery. They played ankle deep in mud every week. It's a load of nonsense. It's an excuse."
Source: PA
