Redknapp refusing to give up on Beckham
A loan move for the former England captain had been described by Redknapp as a “no-goer” earlier in the day, but his tone changed after Tottenham’s FA Cup third-round win over Charlton.
After a week of negotiations between Tottenham and Beckham’s parent club, the Los Angeles Galaxy, Redknapp initially said that an eight-week loan for the star had fallen through because of “insurance issues”.
Redknapp’s assertion was followed by a statement on Spurs’ website, announcing that the 35-year-old would join the club — but only to train for a month as he aims to keep fit during the MLS close season.
But following Spurs’ 3-0 win against their npower League One opponents, Redknapp appeared to backtrack on his previous statement, and insisted the midfielder could still join. When asked if a deal could still happen, the Spurs boss replied: “I don’t honestly know. Hopefully it could still happen. The situation is ongoing.”
It was thought that the Galaxy were demanding an insurance fee for the former Manchester United man after he picked up an achilles injury during last year’s loan spell at AC Milan. But it is understood the Galaxy are not demanding such a fee for Beckham’s release, and the reason behind the impasse in the deal is because Spurs are unwilling to pay the percentage of his wages that the Americans are demanding.
“I was led to believe that insurance was a problem, but apparently that’s not the case,” said Redknapp, who saw his team beat Charlton thanks to a goal from Andros Townsend and a Jermain Defoe double.
Beckham will start training with Spurs this week but Galaxy are adamant they want their man back in time for the start of the MLS season on March 15.
Should Beckham’s loan deal fail to go through, Tottenham will be short of experienced right-sided midfielders if David Bentley’s move to Birmingham is completed, as expected, this week.
TOTTENHAM: Cudicini, Corluka, Bassong, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Kranjcar, Palacios (Modric 46), Sandro, Townsend, Pavlyuchenko, Defoe.
CHARLTON: Elliot, Francis, Jackson, Semedo, Doherty, Wagstaff, Dailly, Racon, McCormack (Reid 61), Anyinsah (Sodje 70), Fry.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
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