EXCLUSIVE: My wackiest transfer deals - I told one player my bulldogs would bite him where it hurts if he tried to get away... the next day he signed for Pompey!

PUBLISHED: 18:00 EST, 9 October 2013 | UPDATED: 02:36 EST, 10 October 2013

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AMDY FAYE

More from Always Managing: My Autobiography by Harry Redknapp

I would swap my seven years as West Ham boss to have Billy Bonds as a mate again

Auxerre to Portsmouth, 2003

Amdy was with Auxerre in France when I saw them against Arsenal the season before. I made Faye their best player by a long way, so was delighted when agent Willie McKay called and said he was available.

We had him training with Portsmouth up in Scotland for a week and he was different class. I tried to hide him away because others were interested. Then I heard he was heading back to France.

Different class: Harry gives Faye a high five after substituting the Portsmouth midfielder

Extracted from Always Managing: My Autobiography by Harry Redknapp with Martin Samuel, published by Ebury on October 10 at £20. © Harry Redknapp 2013. To order a copy for £15.99 (p&p free), call 0844 472 4157.

My wife Sandra and I were at a barbecue at my son Jamie’s house, but we dashed to Heathrow Airport, dumped the car on a double yellow line outside and ran into Terminal One. I was frantic.

Finding him was a million-to-one shot. ‘What does he look like?’ asked Sandra.

‘He’s a very tall black boy,’ I said.

‘Is that him?’ she asked, pointing to a middle-aged Rastafarian with a woolly hat on his head. She doesn’t know much about football.

Then I found him. ‘Amdy, where are you going?’ I asked him.

‘I go home,’ he said.

‘No, Amdy, you can’t go home,’ I insisted. ‘You have to sign for Portsmouth first. Come with me. You come with me.’

I took him to my house and he heard the dogs barking. ‘Dogs! I no like dogs,’ he said and he froze.

‘They’re not dogs, Amdy,’ I assured him. ‘They’re bulldogs. They’re more vicious than dogs. Half-dog, half-bull. If you try to escape, they bite your b***s off.’

We made sure he knew that the dogs were left downstairs at night. The next day he signed for £1.5million.

Life's a beach: Harry with Rosie and Buster, who helped collar Amdy Faye for Portsmouth

STEVE CLARIDGE

Bournemouth, 1984

He went on to have a super career, playing more than 1,000 games for clubs across the whole spectrum of league football — but back then he had a few strange habits.

We took him on trial but I could see within an hour that I wanted him.

It was all nerves with Steve. When he felt under pressure he would shave his head. I’d come into a team meeting and it would be like that Tommy Cooper routine where he plays two characters by turning sideways. On one side Steve’s hair would be normal, on the other it would be half-bald.

Bald ambition: Steve Claridge had some quirky habits in his early years as a player

I hit on the idea of making Billy Rafferty his room-mate on away trips, to try to calm him down.

I’m still good friends with Billy; he’s a lovely, sensible lad and was a very decent centre forward. One night in a room with Claridge, though, and he came down as white as a sheet. ‘Boss, it was like f***ing Psycho,’ he said. ‘He kept going into the bathroom and every time he came out, he’d shaved more off his head. I haven’t slept a wink all night.’

Come in No 10: Paolo Futre

PAULO FUTRE

AC Milan to West Ham, 1996

He came to us in the summer of 1996 and his ability was simply remarkable. Training would stop just to watch him take free-kicks — I’d put him in the top 10 players I have seen.

Our first game was at Arsenal and the team-sheets had already gone in, but there was a problem.

Eddie Gillam, our trainer, had given him the No 16 shirt and got it thrown back in his face. Next thing, Paulo was in my face, too. ‘Futre 10, not 16,’ he said. ‘Eusebio 10, Maradona 10, Pele 10; Futre 10, not f***ing 16.’

By this point, there were 45 minutes to kick-off. ‘It’s changed now, Paulo,’ I explained, as gently as I could. ‘We’ve got squad numbers and your number is 16. We didn’t choose that number. When you came, all the numbers were gone, so the kit man gave you No 16.’

‘No 10,’ he insisted. ‘Futre 10. No 10. Milan, Atletico Madrid, Porto, Benfica, Sporting — Futre 10.’

Now it was getting desperate. I tried to be firm. ‘Paulo, put your shirt on, get changed, please, we have a big game. If you don’t want to wear it, Paulo, off you go,’ I said.

And he did…

The following Monday, Paulo came back in with his team of lawyers to negotiate for the No 10 shirt.

Top talent: Harry rates the Portuguese midfielder among the best he has seen

'If West Ham had kept all of my players together, I believe we would have ended up in the Champions League.'

At first we tried to tell him that we had sold so many replicas with ‘Futre 16’ on the back that it would be impossible to change, but he called our bluff.

‘How many?’ he asked. ‘I will pay £100,000.’ And that was when I knew this was an argument we could not win. Futre was willing to spend £100,000 just to be No 10. In the end, he got it a lot cheaper.

John Moncur, the No 10, agreed to swap, and Paulo let him have two weeks in his villa in the Algarve, which is about the best one there, on the cliffs overlooking the best golf course.

PAOLO DI CANIO

Sheff Wed to West Ham, 1999

If West Ham had kept all of my players together, including the younger ones such as Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe, I believe we would have ended up in the Champions League. Paolo Di Canio set standards and was a great buy.

Getting him to rub along with the extremes of football culture in England was one of the biggest challenges of my career. A lot of people thought I was mad.

Good buy: Paolo Di Canio spent four years at Upton Park

Maverick: Harry and Di Canio exchange words at West Ham's training ground

He had such a focused outlook that even the slightest disturbance on the training field would send him into a rage. He would come storming off. ‘Hey, f***ing gaffer, hey boss! We are warming up, we are supposed to be stretching. Razor Ruddock, he is talking about drinking last night, he is talking about sh***ing — how can this be right? This is not right.’

He was high-maintenance but I told the young lads to watch and learn. Paolo was as fit as a fiddle; a fanatic about conditioning, a brilliant, committed footballer. And a handful.

SHAUN TEALE

His wife tried to run me over

When I left Bournemouth and went to West Ham as assistant manager in 1992, I’d had enough of being the bad guy. When you are the manager, you put up that team-sheet and, straight away, half the club hates you. Their wives hate you, too.

At Bournemouth, Shaun Teale’s missus nearly ran me over after a row over about one hundred quid. She marched down to the training ground over some minor contractual issue, gave me a mouthful, I told her to p**s off, and the next thing I knew she was reversing out of the car park so fast she nearly took me with her.

Close call: The wife of Shaun Teale (centre) nearly ran Harry over

CARL RICHARDS

This deal wasn’t Wright

One of my favourite signings, and not just from my Bournemouth days, was a striker called Carl Richards. I took him from Enfield and he was a real one-off. He was a big lad, and looked more like Carl Lewis.

I bought Carl for £10,000, went to pick him up from Enfield and while he went in to say goodbye to his manager, he left me with his mate.

‘What are you signing him for?’ said this kid. ‘I’m 10 times better than him. I’ve got 26 goals this season, he’s only got 12. I’m different class than him. Why don’t you sign me?’

I was worried. ‘I can’t buy you, I’m buying him,’ I told Carl’s mate, ‘but I’ll keep an eye out for you, don’t worry.’

So we took Carl and he was absolutely useless. He could run, but that was about it. We played about six games, couldn’t win one. Carl was terrible.

Useless: Richards (far right) with his Enfield team-mates back in 1984

After about four games of this, he came to see me. ‘I’ve got a mate,’ he said. ‘He was asking if he could have a trial. He’s a striker, like me.’

‘And is he as good as you, Carl?’ I asked, suspiciously. ‘No, he’s not as good as me,’ he said, ‘but he’s decent.’

‘Well, tell him not to f***ing bother then,’ I snapped, and that was the end of it.

The following Saturday, we went to play Crystal Palace. ‘My mate, the one who wanted a trial, he’s playing for Palace today,’ said Carl. ‘Oh good,’ I thought. ‘No problem there then.’

Anyway, three goals later I realised Carl wasn’t much of a scout, either. His mate’s name? Ian Wright, who went on to score 238 league goals.

Yet Carl ended up doing fantastic for Bournemouth and I loved him to bits.

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*For more information on the Bobby Moore Fund and their work for cancer research go to: www.bobbymoorefund.cancerresearchuk.org/

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LaughAlot, Detroit, 9 hours ago

Great read....though I'm still waiting for when good ol 'Arry will take credit for Bale's conception.

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KP, London, United Kingdom, 10 hours ago

Not such an exciting excerpt today, but nonetheless, I've bought the book and am looking forward to a laugh a page with 'Arrry, aka Del Boy!! That photo of him with his dogs has Only Fools and Horses written all over it.

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One day...., Dunmow, United Kingdom, 10 hours ago

I used to watch Carl Richards when he played in Enfield in the 80's - scored for fun and helped them to be the best non-league club of that era. Lovely to see the old photo of the Enfield team including Dave Howells and Steve King. I would say that photo is later than 1984 though seeing as Enfield won the APL in the 85-86 season and Carl Richards was playing then

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usednurse, Scottish Borders United Kingdom, 11 hours ago

The royalties are going to charity which is why there's so much in the DM. The newspaper fee is guaranteed income whereas book sales are more of a gamble. Harry just making sure the charity are certain of a decent wad. Loved the Ian Wright story!

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Hustle, Gaborone, Botswana, 11 hours ago

Say whatever, you know u can't wait for the next chapter. if he wasn't into football, he would be an editor, writer or owning a magazine, Harry got talent.

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Uncle Monty, Sydney, 11 hours ago

I'm not buying the book.

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Dan Nastase, Urziceni, Romania, 12 hours ago

I can't believe some people are actually COMPLAINING that the DailyMail is posting a big portion of Harry's book. What seems to be your problem? Don't you like to read it for free? God damn it, what a bunch of idiots. Anyway, good read, I've enjoyed the Ian Wright part!

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Mustafa Leek, london, United Kingdom, 12 hours ago

There is a point in buying the book as the Mail have only printed short bits of the book i know because i bought it today from Tesco today priced at £9 a great read and an ideal christmas present i like people that tell the truth and Harry pulls no punches.