Portsmouth had long been the favourites to pick up Sylvain Distin from Manchester City, but good ol’ Harry Redknapp was reliable in ever in spilling the beans. He told The Sun about a late bid from Rafa Benitez,
“I panicked when Liverpool came in with a late offer.
“But, thankfully, we’d struck an agreement.”
Interesting that Rafa would look at Sylvain Distin as a summer signing when all the rumours swirling around are usually mega bids for the world’s most high profile players. But Distin would have made a nice strong, pacey partner for Carragher and any positional deficiencies in the Frenchman’s game would have been masked by the Benitez’ tactics and emphasis on defensive organisation.