Redknapp: Spurs defenders not good enough; Arsenal can challenge; Man United won't

On Petr Cech and how good Arsenal will be:

"I don’t think the jigsaw is complete, I think they’re at least two players short. If they get two more signings… Cech is the first in the jigsaw. But for me, Cech - that’s a fantastic signing. He’ll give a presence to the team, he can be worth another seven or eight points this year. He can make such a difference."

What extra Arsenal need:

"They need another striker. They can’t just go with one striker. Giroud on his day… They need another striker."

On Jackson Martinez:

"He could be fantastic but it looks like he might go to Atletico Madrid."

On Raheem Sterling possibly going to Manchester City:

"I don’t think that’s a good move. He’s fortunate to be playing at such a fantastic football club as Liverpool and I think he needs to stay there for the next three years or so and continue to make the progress he’s made. He’s a fantastic talent, and if in three years' time when he’s still only 23-24, if Real Madrid or someone comes in then great, move on. But I don’t think at the moment he should. He should be thankful that he’s at such a great club as Liverpool."

Sterling work

On the next season – can Liverpool or Spurs catch the top four next season?:

"Depends who they sign. It will all come down to recruitment. I think Tottenham made a good signing in Trippier – I like him a lot. And they’ve got Walker as well who’s an outstanding full-back. Two great young right-backs. It’ll be an interesting battle for that right-back spot. 

"Spurs need another striker to help Harry Kane. They keep bringing in centre-halves but are they good enough? Is Fazio good enough? Their full-backs are good; they’re strong at full-back. They’ve got Davies and Rose – I like him. They’ve got Vertonghen but I still think they’re short of a top centre-half."

On Sergio Ramos being linked with Manchester United:

"Well, Ramos would be a great signing but I think his buyout clause is £200m or something ridiculous. He’s a great competitor, Ramos, there’s no doubt about that."

On United’s next season:

"Finishing fourth is not a success for Man United. They’re a team who won the league under Fergie so they’re going to look to come back and win the league next year, they’re going to want to be up there challenging. They spent a fortune last year and they just sneaked into fourth really so they need to improve this year. But I don’t see them winning the league this year."

Chelsea favoured

On Chelsea:

"I think that Chelsea will be the team to beat and I think if Arsenal get one or two in then they’ll be the biggest challengers."

On being at Spurs and how good that team of 2011/12 was:

"I had a great time. Well, if we’d have got a striker in at that Christmas time... Instead we had to fill the squad up really. We took Louis Saha free from Everton, but I think if we’d have gone out and invested in a top centre-forward we’d have been very close that year."

On almost buying Remy in January 2012 and others almost joining:

"Yeah I looked at Remy and I chased Remy. There are a few players around in the Premier League that I [liked], like [Eden] Hazard. I met Hazard out in Paris in a hotel for two hours. He was wanting to come to Tottenham. Also Courtois the goalkeeper, we had his mum and dad over. We had a meeting with Daniel Levy, him and his mum and dad – we were in for him when he was probably 17. We could have had him."

On not buying a striker in Jan 2012:

"We all wanted one [a striker], I wanted to find one. I don’t know really, I don’t know what the reasons were; I can’t really remember why we couldn’t quite do it. I don’t know if we couldn’t quite find the striker that we was really looking for. That’s where you need a lot of help with your scouting and your recruiting. You need names then. As a manager you’re relying on people hitting you with names because you can’t be watching every game. You’re busy with your team. It’s the recruiting people who have got to be coming in and hitting you with three or four names of players who can make the difference." 

On Daniel Levy at Spurs: 

"He wants the club to be successful for sure, but at the same time if there’s a deal that’s good for the club and there’s a player worth £20m and someone comes in with a bid of £30m then he’ll sell him. But at the end of the day he’s always got the club at heart, for sure."

On being an Arsenal fan as a kid: 

"Well, my dad was an Arsenal fan but when I left school at 14, Arsenal went out the window then. As a little boy we lived in a West Ham area but my dad was Arsenal and he took me there. But I left school at 14, or just before I was 15, went to West Ham and that was the end of that. Once you get into football and got to a team, that is your team."

The future

On his own future:

"I’ve still got the appetite to be a manager again, if something interesting came up then I’d do it. It would have to be something that I’d want to do, you know. I wouldn’t just take a job just for the sake of it –  it’s about doing something I want to do now. Yeah, I would [consider other roles such as a director of football] or working with a young manager, something like that."

On West Ham’s promising future:

"I thought they looked good early last season – with two strikers, Valencia and Sakho, pace. They look OK. If they get two or three players in then they’re going to be a team that I see finishing in the top 10 next year."

Harry Redknapp uses FLEXISEQ - the drug-free, pain relieving gel designed to keep people of all ages active. Discover more at Flexiseq.com. In light of recent speculation around his departure from professional management due to knee problems, Redknapp was invited by England Bowls sponsor FLEXISEQ, a drug-free gel used to reduce joint pain and stiffness, to shoot a mock documentary around his hiring as manager of the England Bowls team.