Redknapp ready to shake hands with Benjani at Portsmouth

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Benjani Mwaruwari is caught between the fire and the frying pan. He is technically still a Portsmouth player  and the transfer fiasco that occurred on Thursday night when he arrived late at Manchester City and could only partially rush through the paperwork implies that all is not well for the Zimbabwean international striker.

But as ESPN Soccernet reports, Pompey manager Harry Redknapp doesn’t bother that Benjani is eager to join City. The former Southampton boss says that he will embrace the striker whenever he decides to commit himself 100% to Portsmouth and that there will be no tiff between him and the player. Redknapp says:

”I feel for Benjani because at the moment he seems to be the big loser in all this, but hopefully it will all be sorted out tomorrow and I think he will end up as a Manchester City player. If not, from a greedy football manager’s point of view, I’d be delighted to get Benjani back. I didn’t want to lose him in the first place but, of course, I had to because it is good business to sell a 29-year-old and get in a lad of 25 who is always going to get you goals.”

But don’t think that Redknapp is being generous. Portsmouth signed England international striker Jermain Defoe from Spurs on Thursday as a replacement for Benjani and Redknapp would certainly like the duo to battle each other out for a place in the first team. That would be healthy competition for Harry.

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