Portsmouth insist they will do everything possible to
hang onto their first-team stars, despite conceding that it was
Harry Redknapp's influence which lured many players to the south
coast.
Pompey chief executive Peter Storrie insists financial
considerations were not the reason for the club allowing Redknapp
to leave the club for Tottenham on Saturday night and they will not
they force the club to sell the stars the former West Ham man
brought in.
Players such as Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Lassana
Diarra seem certain to be linked with a switch to White Hart Lane
but Storrie says they will not willingly let these players
leave.
"I accept that many players did come here mostly because of
Harry but that sort of thing also exists at other clubs," Storie
said.
"I don't know what is going to happen in the future because
Harry's going is still a big shock.
"It is something we did everything in our power to prevent but
in the end the lure of Tottenham was too much for him to
resist.
"I've known him 14 years at West Ham and here and I know that he
also wanted to manage a top club - in terms of great stadium and
fantastic history - and I have to respect that as the reason why
he's gone.
"We talked to him long and hard and I think, at several points,
he changed his mind, but that was just the same as when he was
offered the Newcastle job earlier this year.
"He turned that down in the end and we immediately gave him a
new contract to 2011 but I did not expect to be dealing with the
compensation for that already.
"We have to make it clear that it is Harry's choice to go and we
have not done this for the money.
"Whatever Spurs give us as compensation is set in stone in the
Premier League contract rules as either a fixed sum or whatever is
left on a manager's contract."