Newcastle's Hatem Ben Arfa

Spurs boss reveals he could have signed Sunderland and Newcastle stars

By Ben Pearce, Tottenham correspondent
Thursday, April 12, 2012
11:57 AM

Harry Redknapp has revealed that Spurs could have signed Sunderland’s Stephane Sessegnon and Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa.

Both players have enjoyed strong seasons in the Premier League, with Sessegnon finding the net eight times for the Black Cats, while Ben Arfa scored his sixth of the campaign with a fine solo effort against Bolton on Monday.

“We could have had Sessegnon at one time I think,” said Redknapp. “The people who work for me weren’t really convinced at the time – they were watching him and they didn’t feel that he was any better than what we had, in all honesty.

“We still had Pavlyuchenko here, and Defoe. But he is a talent, there’s no doubt about that – a really good player in behind the striker.

“The boy at Newcastle’s a good player as well, he’s a talent, Ben Arfa. He’s similar, another good little dribbler.

“We probably could have had him as well, but you can’t take everyone can you? You end up with dozens of players hanging around, and we’ve got good players here anyway so he might not have got in our team.

“Do I regret not taking Sessegnon? Not really. He’s a good little player but I’ve got Van der Vaart. You’re just going to cause yourself a bigger problem.

“Rafa plays there really, in behind the striker, and he’s not going to be happy sitting around and not playing.

“Rafa scores goals and makes goals. He’s a top player, so you can’t just say ‘oh I’ll have him, and him’. Some football clubs end up with too many and all you have is problems.”

Follow me on Twitter @BenPearceSpurs