CHIGWELL, England (Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp is confident of keeping his exciting squad together even if the team slip up against Fulham on Sunday and finish the Premier League season out of the Champions League places.

Asked if Tottenham’s best players would want to leave if that happened, Redknapp told reporters on Friday: “Champions League football gets over-hyped a bit.

“At the end of the day, if you pay players good wages and get them a good contract they are happy.”

He also dismissed a story in the Spanish sports newspaper Marca that Spurs had agreed a 40-million-euro fee with Barcelona for midfielder Gareth Bale.

“I wouldn’t think there’s the slightest bit of truth in that. Not a chance I wouldn’t have thought,” Redknapp said at the club’s training ground.

“You have got to keep our best players because if you don’t, where are you going? You can’t be selling your best players.”

Tottenham, fourth in the table, could finish third and return to the Champions League after a year’s absence if they beat Fulham and Arsenal, a point above them, fail to win against West Bromwich Albion.

CHIGWELL, England, May 11 (Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp is confident of keeping his exciting squad together even if the team slip up against Fulham on Sunday and finish the Premier League season out of the Champions League places.

Asked if Tottenham’s best players would want to leave if that happened, Redknapp told reporters on Friday: “Champions League football gets over-hyped a bit.

“At the end of the day, if you pay players good wages and get them a good contract they are happy.”

He also dismissed a story in the Spanish sports newspaper Marca that Spurs had agreed a 40-million-euro fee with Barcelona for midfielder Gareth Bale.

“I wouldn’t think there’s the slightest bit of truth in that. Not a chance I wouldn’t have thought,” Redknapp said at the club’s training ground.

“You have got to keep our best players because if you don’t, where are you going? You can’t be selling your best players.”

Tottenham, fourth in the table, could finish third and return to the Champions League after a year’s absence if they beat Fulham and Arsenal, a point above them, fail to win against West Bromwich Albion.

CHIGWELL, England (Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modric is irreplaceable and the club must hold on to the Croatia international and their other top players to avoid becoming a mid-table team again, manager Harry Redknapp told reporters on Friday.

“He (Modric) is a fantastic player, great professional, top bloke. You can’t replace him. You can sell him but you can’t replace him with someone as good,” said Redknapp.

“That’s why the other clubs want to buy him – because he is worth the money. We don’t want to sell him, we want to keep him.

“Once you start selling your best players you are finished. He’s one of the better players in world football. He’s an amazing footballer.”

Modric and fellow midfielder Gareth Bale have been linked to several leading European clubs with British media reporting on Friday that Manchester City were interested in the Welshman.

But City manager Roberto Mancini said he doubted Bale would be sold by Spurs. “Gareth Bale is a fantastic player but I don’t think he will leave a big team like Tottenham,” he told reporters.

Redknapp also cannot understand why anyone thinks Spurs would want to part with their top players.

CHIGWELL, England, May 4 (Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modric is irreplaceable and the club must hold on to the Croatia international and their other top players to avoid becoming a mid-table team again, manager Harry Redknapp told reporters on Friday.

“He (Modric) is a fantastic player, great professional, top bloke. You can’t replace him. You can sell him but you can’t replace him with someone as good,” said Redknapp.

“That’s why the other clubs want to buy him – because he is worth the money. We don’t want to sell him, we want to keep him.

“Once you start selling your best players you are finished. He’s one of the better players in world football. He’s an amazing footballer.”

Modric and fellow midfielder Gareth Bale have been linked to several leading European clubs with British media reporting on Friday that Manchester City were interested in the Welshman.

But City manager Roberto Mancini said he doubted Bale would be sold by Spurs. “Gareth Bale is a fantastic player but I don’t think he will leave a big team like Tottenham,” he told reporters.

Redknapp also cannot understand why anyone thinks Spurs would want to part with their top players.

CHIGWELL, England, May 4 (Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modric is irreplaceable and the club must hold on to the Croatia international and their other top players to avoid becoming a mid-table team again, manager Harry Redknapp told reporters on Friday.

“He (Modric) is a fantastic player, great professional, top bloke. You can’t replace him. You can sell him but you can’t replace him with someone as good,” said Redknapp.

“That’s why the other clubs want to buy him – because he is worth the money. We don’t want to sell him, we want to keep him.

“Once you start selling your best players you are finished. He’s one of the better players in world football. He’s an amazing footballer.”

Modric and fellow midfielder Gareth Bale have been linked to several leading European clubs with British media reporting on Friday that Manchester City were interested in the Welshman.

But City manager Roberto Mancini said he doubted Bale would be sold by Spurs. “Gareth Bale is a fantastic player but I don’t think he will leave a big team like Tottenham,” he told reporters.

Redknapp also cannot understand why anyone thinks Spurs would want to part with their top players.

LONDON (Reuters) – Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba remained in a critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest during the FA Cup quarter-final at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, the hospital and club said in a joint statement on Sunday.

The 23-year-old will remain anaesthetized in intensive care for at least the next 24 hours after collapsing on the pitch at White Hart Lane where he was given CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) by medics before being taken to hospital.

The match was abandoned at 1-1 just before halftime after Muamba fell to the turf near the centre circle. No other player was involved in the incident and after a delay of several minutes referee Howard Webb took the teams off the field.

“Fabrice received prolonged resuscitation at the ground and on route to The London Chest Hospital, where his heart eventually started working,” Sunday’s hospital statement said.

“As is normal medical practice, Fabrice remains anaesthetized in intensive care and will be for at least 24 hours. His condition continues to be closely monitored by the cardiac specialists at the hospital.”

Messages of support for England under-21 international Muamba have come flooding in from players, clubs and fans with flowers and messages delivered to the hospital and laid outside Bolton’s Reebok stadium.

Bolton’s Premier League game at Aston Villa which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday has been postponed.

LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) – Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba remained in a critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest during the FA Cup quarter-final at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, the hospital and club said in a joint statement on Sunday.

The 23-year-old will remain anaesthetised in intensive care for at least the next 24 hours after collapsing on the pitch at White Hart Lane where he was given CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) by medics before being taken to hospital.

The match was abandoned at 1-1 just before halftime after Muamba fell to the turf near the centre circle. No other player was involved in the incident and after a delay of several minutes referee Howard Webb took the teams off the field.

“Fabrice received prolonged resuscitation at the ground and on route to The London Chest Hospital, where his heart eventually started working,” Sunday’s hospital statement said.

“As is normal medical practice, Fabrice remains anaesthetised in intensive care and will be for at least 24 hours. His condition continues to be closely monitored by the cardiac specialists at the hospital.”

Messages of support for England under-21 international Muamba have come flooding in from players, clubs and fans with flowers and messages delivered to the hospital and laid outside Bolton’s Reebok stadium.

Bolton’s Premier League game at Aston Villa which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday has been postponed.

LONDON (Reuters) – Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba remained in a critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest during the FA Cup quarter-final at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, the hospital and club said in a joint statement on Sunday.

The 23-year-old collapsed on the pitch at White Hart Lane and was given CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) by medics before being taken to The London Chest Hospital where he is still in intensive care at the Heart Attack Centre.

The match was abandoned at 1-1 just before halftime after Muamba fell to the turf near the centre circle. No other player was involved in the incident and after a delay of several minutes referee Howard Webb took the teams off the field.

“Fabrice received prolonged resuscitation at the ground and on route to The London Chest Hospital, where his heart eventually started working,” Sunday’s hospital statement said.

“As is normal medical practice, Fabrice remains anaesthetised in intensive care and will be for at least 24 hours. His condition continues to be closely monitored by the cardiac specialists at the hospital.”

Messages of support for the England under-21 international have come flooding in from players, clubs and fans for Muamba with flowers and messages being delivered to the hospital and laid outside Bolton’s Reebok stadium.

Bolton manager Owen Coyle said in Sunday’s statement: “Fabrice’s family have asked me to pass on their thanks for the many, many kind messages of support from not only Bolton fans but also fans from clubs across the country and abroad.

LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) – Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba remained in a critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest during the FA Cup quarter-final at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, the hospital and club said in a joint statement on Sunday.

The 23-year-old collapsed on the pitch at White Hart Lane and was given CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) by medics before being taken to The London Chest Hospital where he is still in intensive care at the Heart Attack Centre.

The match was abandoned at 1-1 just before halftime after Muamba fell to the turf near the centre circle. No other player was involved in the incident and after a delay of several minutes referee Howard Webb took the teams off the field.

“Fabrice received prolonged resuscitation at the ground and on route to The London Chest Hospital, where his heart eventually started working,” Sunday’s hospital statement said.

“As is normal medical practice, Fabrice remains anaesthetised in intensive care and will be for at least 24 hours. His condition continues to be closely monitored by the cardiac specialists at the hospital.”

Messages of support for the England under-21 international have come flooding in from players, clubs and fans for Muamba with flowers and messages being delivered to the hospital and laid outside Bolton’s Reebok stadium.

Bolton manager Owen Coyle said in Sunday’s statement: “Fabrice’s family have asked me to pass on their thanks for the many, many kind messages of support from not only Bolton fans but also fans from clubs across the country and abroad.

CHIGWELL, England (Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur will aim to register their first win over Manchester United in more than 10 years when they host the Premier League champions at White Hart Lane on Sunday, knowing they must be at their best after last week’s setback at Arsenal.

Third-placed Spurs should have midfielder Gareth Bale, forward Rafael van der Vaart and fullback Kyle Walker available after injury for the clash with United, who are second, eight points ahead of the London side and two behind Manchester City.

Manager Harry Redknapp must rally his team after they were thrashed 5-2 by arch rivals Arsenal at The Emirates last Sunday but they will be without their new England captain Scott Parker who is suspended.

Asked if Tottenham had their best chance to beat United since their last win in 2001, Redknapp said: “It’s still difficult. Manchester United are still a great team. You know what you are in for.

“You have got to be at your best if you’re going to get a result. They have done fantastic again.

“But we’ve got a big chance, we have got a good team. They are a top team, so are we, so it should be a great game,” he told reporters at the club’s training ground on Friday.

Spurs are seven points ahead of London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea in the race for third place and an automatic Champions League qualifying place and Redknapp said that was the priority with their chances of a first league title since 1961 having faded over the last few weeks.