Portsmouth hero calls for huge Harry Redknapp decision ahead of former Spurs and West Ham man’s Fratton return

Great Escape hero Pedro Mendes believes the FA Cup and Division One title-winning boss should get back into the professional game, after a seven-year absence.

Mendes’ call comes with Redknapp due to make a Pompey comeback tomorrow evening, at the launch of Played Up Pompey Four - written by News chief sport writer, Neil Allen.

It will be just the second time Redknapp has been back at Fratton Park since leaving the Blues to join Spurs in 2008, after speaking at the club’s end-of-season dinner last year.

Redknapp has enjoyed a life away from front-line management since departing from Birmingham in 2017, after a career managing the likes of Pompey, West Ham, Spurs, Southampton and QPR.

The 77-year-old has worked in the media since and won I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here in 2018, along with a number of other high-profile TV appearances.

But Mendes feels Redknapp is missed in football - and still has a lot of offer the game.

Speaking to Gambling.com the former Fratton midfielder said: ‘I think there should always be a place for a guy like Harry Redknapp in the game. Everything around Harry is different. The way he trains, the way he speaks, the way his relationship is with the players.

‘Harry has been out of the game for a while now, and I think he should be back. The game needs him, you know. He just brings something different.

‘When Harry’s not upset, and he's not looking for the players to run kilometres and build stamina, he just loves when a player does a trick and scores a fantastic goal, or does something different.

‘Niko (Kranjcar) had that with him, he's a fantastic technical player and sometimes, out of nothing, just pulled off a fantastic goal or a dribble. Harry loved him.

‘(Andres) D'Alessandro is another example, the little left-footed Argentinean. Out of nothing, he could just do amazing things. And Harry loved that type of player.’