‘I’m the only one that knows’ – Benjani lifts lid on what happened when Harry Redknapp sold him on Deadline Day

You cognize it's transportation deadline time erstwhile you perceive Harry Redknapp's sanction floating about.

The erstwhile Premier League gaffer was renowned for his drive-by interviews, striking a woody for each kinds of players with the timepiece ticking connected the transportation window.

One of Redknapp's astir celebrated antics was shipping Portsmouth's prima striker Benjani Mwaruwari disconnected to Manchester City connected deadline time successful January 2008 - the play Pompey lifted the FA Cup earlier galore fiscal troubles saw them gaffe down the EFL pyramid.

Pompey had already confirmed the signing of Benjani's replacement, Jermain Defoe, having accepted a £7.6million bid for the Zimbabwean striker.

Now, each has yet been revealed connected 1 of the astir bizarre transportation sagas successful caller surviving memory.

Redknapp, speaking to the BBC, recalled Sven-Goran Eriksson - past Man City brag - had offered Pompey a sum "too bully to crook down".

So helium shipped Benjani disconnected to Southampton airport, and that's erstwhile chaos ensued.

The Pompey brag received a telephone saying Benjani hadn't arrived astatine Manchester airport, and it was aboriginal claimed that helium had missed 2 flights, and a 3rd had been cancelled.

Redknapp told the BBC helium called Benjani, asking what connected earth was going on.

Benjani was inactive astatine the airport, with the striker allegedly having 2nd thoughts astir a move.

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Now, for the archetypal time, Benjani has revealed what truly went down connected that infamous deadline time - claiming "I'm the lone idiosyncratic that knows what happened".

He said: "Before this interview, I ever person a batch of questions astir that.

"The flight? Delayed. And my phone, now, I didn't bring the charger, my telephone is dead!"

He recalled some Pompey and Man City "trying to locate" him, stressing that helium hadn't fallen dormant successful the airport, and did successful information privation to spell to the Etihad!

He continued: "I made the decision, I privation to go!"

Benjani yet arrived astatine Man City's grooming crushed astatine 11:10pm, with hardly capable clip to implicit the deal.

He said: "It was 5 minutes to 12, everything was conscionable a messiness there. The fax instrumentality broke down, truthful lone 1 oregon 2 papers, they went done and the remainder were [missing]."

The transportation yet went done connected February 5 2008, for a £3.87million fee, with bonuses acceptable to instrumentality the woody up to the primitively reported £7.6million.

Benjani bagged his archetypal Man City extremity conscionable 5 days later, scoring the victor against Manchester United successful the Manchester derby.

After spells with Sunderland and Blackburn, Benjani made a season-long instrumentality to Fratton Park successful 2011, earlier finishing his vocation astatine South African sides Chippa United and Bidvest Wits.

He is present moving wrong the Plymouth Argyle Academy arsenic 1 of the club's younker coaches.