Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has revealed that he wanted to keep Jonathan Woodgate this summer, before the injury-prone defender moved to Premier League rivals Stoke City on a free transfer.

The classy centre-back had a stop-start career in North London – making only 64 appearances after an £8m move from Middlesbrough in January 2008 – mainly due to a long list of injuries which stemmed from an unstable pelvis.

Three separate surgeons told Woodgate that he needed a metal plate inserted across the joint – a procedure which would have ended his career.

But Redknapp has never hidden his admiration for the former Real Madrid and England man and the Spurs chief admits keeping him on a pay-as-you-play deal was his preferred option.

“I wanted to keep him here and wouldn’t have let Jonathan go,” Redknapp told the national media.

“He came back on the first day of pre-season after I spoke to him in the summer and said: ‘Come back, train and we might have to do a pay-as-you-play deal, but I want you to stay here’. The secretary, when he came in, said he couldn’t train. He wasn’t insured to train. But he was convinced he was fit again. It was gutting.”

But Redknapp does ‘get’ the club’s stance on the issue. After all, he has always maintained a fairly healthy relationship with the White Hart Lane hierarchy. “I can understand the club’s point of view. They paid him for two years and he hasn’t played a game.

“It’s all right for me, it’s not my money. They decided he couldn’t stay and Tony Pulis [the Stoke manager] has obviously taken an absolute top-class centre-half.”

The two clubs meet in tonight’s Carling Cup third round clash at the Britannia Stadium but with Potters boss Pulis keen not to take any risks with Woodgate, the 31-year-old looks set to miss out this evening. He has, however, now played more games for Stoke than he did in his final two years at Tottenham and Redknapp still rates him as one of the top defenders in the world game.

“If he can stay fit he is one of the best. Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King are up there with the John Terrys and Rio Ferdinands of this world. Full credit to Stoke, they’ve got him fit and he looks in good shape. He’s a fantastic boy and I just hope it goes great for him now.”