Harry Redknapp has conceded he will always be interested in signing Peter Crouch, as rumours link the striker with a £10 million return to Portsmouth.
Crouch – who will lead the line for England against Croatia on Wednesday – has found first team chances hard to come by this season at Liverpool and it is expected that he will attract interest when the transfer window opens.
One of the clubs reputedly on his trail is Portsmouth and reports in Wednesday’s papers claim the South Coast side could be readying a £10 million bid for the player they sold to Aston Villa for half that in 2002.
Redknapp has done little to disguise his admiration for Crouch, whom he also managed during his brief time at Portsmouth’s rivals Southampton.
"You will always be interested in someone like him," Redknapp told The Mirror.
"He is a great player and can be unplayable at times. He is a great lad and great to work with.
"He was fantastic in that year he had at Portsmouth. The club owe him a massive debt for what he did.
"We bought him for £1 million and sold him for £5 million. He scored 19 goals and without those goals they would probably have gone down.
"He kept the club going and for me he has been one of the main players for the last six or seven years."