Peter Crouch and Harry Redknapp have now opened up on exactly what went on behind the scenes during the striker’s deadline day transfer to Stoke City in the summer of 2011.
Crouch and Wilson Palacios both joined Stoke on deadline day (BBC Sport) as Tottenham brought in Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City and Scott Parker from West Ham that summer.
However, the former England striker revealed in the latest episode of That Peter Crouch Podcast that the transfer wasn’t exactly straightforward as he was keen to stay at Spurs.
Crouch and podcast guests Harry Redknapp, who was manager at the time, revealed that Levy was furious at the prospect of the deal collapsing. They even hinted that the Spurs chairman eventually had to give the striker financial compensation.
However, the 39-year-old insisted that things worked out well for him in the end as he went on to have a fine career at Stoke.
Below is the transcription of the conversation between Crouch and Redknapp about the deadline day move:
Peter Crouch: “I wanted to stay. We had the conversation in the office, me, you and Daniel Levy on the loudspeaker.”
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Harry Redknapp: “Daniel came in, he wanted the money, he wanted to sell Pete, and that’s it. And what a career Pete had a Stoke as well.”
Crouch: “I remember Daniel telling me Adebayor was coming in and I get it. He was trying to balance the books. He had a great offer of £10 million from Stoke and they were going to take Wilson Palacios as well. So, it was obviously a great deal.
“I was digging my heels in a little bit and Daniel wasn’t pleased with that because it was deadline day. But it all worked out in the end. It was good.”
Redknapp: “He gave you what you wanted in the end, I suppose, he had to didn’t he (says laughing). You had him by the n**s.
Crouch: “I had all the cards. They weren’t going to take Wilson were they unless I went. I said ‘Wilson’s got a dodgy knee and I’m pushing 30 now’.
“So I just said ‘I’ll see you in the morning. I’m happy here. He was ringing me all day, all day. But we got there in the end.”
Spurs Web Opinion
This shows how ruthless Daniel Levy can be when it comes to getting players out of the club. I was sad to see Crouchy go at the time and thought he had done enough in the two previous seasons to stay and fight for his place. However, in hindsight, it was probably the right call to sell him as Adebayor was an upgrade.
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