Harry Redknapp: I nearly signed Patrick Vieira and Luis Suarez when I managed Tottenham
QPR boss Harry Redknapp has sensationally revealed how close he came to signing Arsenal icon Patrick Vieira and regrets not being able to sign ex-Liverpool star Luis Suarez when he managed Tottenham.
Patrick Vieira could quite easily have joined Tottenham[GETTY]
Redknapp enjoyed a productive spell in charge of the north London outfit and guided them to the Champions League in 2010 after a top-four finish.
Despite Vieira's strong connections to Arsenal, Redknapp explained how he met the Frenchman in an effort to persuade him to leave Inter Milan.
"Patrick Vieira was a different type of midfield player and one every club would like to take now," Redknapp wrote in his new book A Man Walks On To a Pitch, which is currently being serialised by The Daily Mail.
"He almost came to me at Tottenham from Inter Milan. I thought it was an incredible decision by him, after he'd been such a hero at Arsenal.
"I met him at his house in Hampstead and he had no fear about what people would think or what reception he would get. He had enough confidence in his ability to just brush it away.
"I remember talking to Daniel Levy, our chairman, about him. He said the crowd would be hostile. I knew that - but if he had enough bottle to want to put on our white shirt after all that had gone before, I thought it said something about the man."
Harry Redknapp held talks with Patrick Vieira [GETTY]
He almost came to me at Tottenham from Inter Milan. I thought it was an incredible decision by him
Harry Redknapp
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Redknapp also explained how not signing Suarez was his biggest regret.
He added: "Despite all that has happened in his career since, one of the biggest regrets of my life in management is not taking Luis Suarez to Tottenham when we had the chance.
"You've got to take him, Harry,' Ruud Gullit told me. 'He's fantastic.'
"Yet all of our scouts' reports said that at Ajax he played wide off a striker, whereas we were looking for a proper front man."
"Just when I was on the verge of taking the plunge, the price went up.
"In the end he was sold for £22.8 million to Liverpool. We wouldn't have paid that."