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Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has revealed that he made a bid to sign England midfielder Gareth Barry from Aston Villa but was "blown out of the water" by the spending power of Manchester City.
Redknapp said Spurs made a decent offer for the player, although he did not reveal how much, but he could not compete with Mark Hughes who, with massive funds at his disposal, succeeded in adding the player to a team he is rebuilding in a bid to challenge the Premier League's top four next season.
Redknapp, who claims the amount of money now being offered to players has become obscene, said: "This week, I tried to sign Gareth Barry. I felt he would be a good addition for Spurs and I knew we had to make a decent offer for a top England player.
"Liverpool were also prepared to make a big offer for him but we have both been blown out of the water by Manchester City.
"They offered a far bigger transfer fee and are giving the lad much bigger wages. We could not get near."
Spurs will now turn their attention to signing Roque Santa Cruz this summer but have told Blackburn they will not pay more than £12million for the striker, which might see them battling once again with City, who tried to sign him last season and may go nearer to the £20m that Rovers want.
Spurs are keen to strengthen their frontline even though they already have Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane, Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko at the club.
The last two players are expected to leave the club, with Bent a £10m target for Sunderland.
The England international has struggled to win over the fans since his £16.5m move from Charlton two years ago and Tottenham are prepared to let the 25-year-old go.
Spurs are also interested in Marseille's Djibril Cisse but it is believed he will only be fourth-choice striker if he moves to north London.
Having sold Barry to City, Villa boss Martin O'Neill is expected to use the transfer funds to mount a serious bid for Tottenham's David Bentley and Tom Huddlestone.
O'Neill remains a fan of Bentley, despite the fact that he has proved a huge disappointment at White Hart Lane, following his £15m transfer from Blackburn last summer.
But Spurs will have to take a loss on the player as O'Neill will offer in the region of £8m after Redknapp told the England international he is not part of his long-term plans.
He is willing to pay a similar price for 22-year-old Huddlestone, a player he also rates.
Reader views (16)
Andrew Shaw."Our biggest rivals won't be Spurs" and this from from someone in Brentford, typical Manchester fan, what do we call you a Southern, Northern Monkey.....Loser.
- Nick, LOS ANGELES
Don't think Harry was ever in the running. However, if he wants RSC, let's hope he goes and gets him because City don't need him. Injury prone. We can get far better value for money elsewhere. Barry is a great signing and will fill a position where we were short all last season. Our biggest rivals next time out won't be Spurs. They are also rans.
- Andrew Shaw, Brentford
hmm, Spuds ah? Manchester City the next Blackburn, the team that doesn't have a recognised striker...sounds good, got Ireland and Barry.
My friend Blue, sounds like you haven't played football or understand it, how can you join a team not even in Europe, to a team who is in it.
- Adrian, london
the idea that a highly sought after player who can command big wages and offer big talent would go to spurs is absolutely hilarious.
thanks harry! best laugh i had all day - roll on the weekend - then roll on the new season so we can all have a good laugh at spurs!
- Lexdexter, london, england
Barry not worth 12 million, scored 8 goals for a midfield player very low, i don't think he is better than Huddlestone?
Mark Hughes, buys these guys, but all over rated, thats players go there, yeah what happen to SWP? Robinho (waste of space) majority of his goals have come against lowly teams!
Bellamy,dead wood, headless chicken...
Man City, under acievers, just like Blackburn all over again!
- Adrian, london
Tom, Blue means I'm Chelsea??? Players careers don't concern me that much, players fail even at Utd - Veron Berbatov, Forlan. However with short careers nobody can fault Barry showing ambition & choosing City ahead of Spuds
- Blue, UK
oh yeh Blue, and Shevcenko,Mutu,Veron,Wright-Phillips,Ferrira...all cheap buys really blossomed and got got a good return didn't they??? how many games did Bogarde play in 4 years for 40k a week??
- Tom, ricky
I suspect it was Spud's ability to send players careers down the toilet!! Besides the money which no doubt attracted him, Barry like City has ambition. Spuds have none
- Blue, UK
man city have more money than sense
- Alen R, london uk
What pathetic comment from the Cambridge blue,i doubt the fee would have been a problem too spurs,City can blow any club out the water with their finances in terms of wages..Barry is not worth over 100k a week,even for spurs,yes he is good but not exactly a world beater,he has got no pace,which you do need nowadays.Also 12mil not 18m is due too the fact he only had a year left of his contract.so villa done well out of it and Barry did even better..kar ching!!
- Phil, herts
Harry is probably referring to the wages more than anything else
- Abe, south africa
Mid-table mediocrity & comparatively low wages were easily achievable at Villa, Harry!
- Rob Hotspurs, South London
More to do with the wages I think.. over 100 grand a week? that's way over the Spurs wage structure. And the transfer fee probably rises depending on appearnces and trophys etc.
- Leroy, Kent
David Bentley, Tom Huddlestone or Darren Bent plus the £12 million would surely get Roque for Spurs...
- Great Unkle Bulgaria, Wimbledon Common, London, England
£12m blowing spurs out of the water? What did he offer a toffee crisp and a knock off copy of finding nemo on dvd?
Pull the other one 'Arry - spurs spent over £100m last season so you're not exactly poor. Barry is widely regarded as one of the best premier league midfielders and had a price of £18m last year... £12m is a fair price.
I'm sick to death of all your "I'd love 'im a spurs, he's their player - but I'd love 'im at spurs" pseudo tapping up. Only last season one of our players (can't recall which) said you were calling his mobile (I doubt with the club's permission)
- Cambridgeblue, London, uk
Isnt it strange the nature of the press, the Manchester press proclaim the deal was done over a week ago in Dubai, so i'm not sure where Redknapp gets off on saying his offer couldnt compete, is this some sort of spin to appease the Spurs faithfull.
- G, Manchester
