'I joined Tottenham from Man City – but in the end I begged the manager to leave'

Joining Tottenham was far from the dream move one Premier League star predicted, and he eventually begged his old manager to let him leave halfway through the season

Vedran Corluka has revealed he had to beg Harry Redknapp to let him leave Tottenham after falling out of favour in north London.

The former Croatia international - who is now assistant manager of the national team - joined Spurs from Manchester City for around £8.5million in the summer of 2008. Corluka, 38, signed a six-year deal at White Hart Lane but only made it halfway through that term before falling down Redknapp's pecking order.

The defender decided to move on in a bid to play regular football and ensure his place in the Croatia squad for Euro 2012. However, Corluka - whose former Premier League employers will collide this evening - revealed how Redknapp was initially dead set against the idea.

"When I told him that I had an option to move to Germany, Harry didn't want to even hear about that," he told Vecernji List in February 2012. "He said to me that he still needs me and that I'm like all the other players - very important to him.

"The day before leaving Spurs I called him, and even begged him to let me go, as that was the only option for me and my chances to be at Euro 2012. And, after that conversation, he softened up and said that I can leave Tottenham."

Corluka made 109 appearances for Spurs in total and was part of the squad that finished as League Cup runners-up in his first season. He made just eight appearances on loan at Bayer Leverkusen but soon joined Lokomotiv Moscow, where he won a Russian Premier League title and four Russian Cups over the course of nine years.

Despite the disappointing nature of his Spurs exit, Corluka enjoyed some very bright spells with the cub. It was only six months or so prior to him leaving for Leverkusen that he insisted Tottenham were a bigger club than City despite the latter's newfound spending in light of their Abu Dhabi takeover.

"I still think that," he told the Daily Mail in 2011. "The fans are a little bit more close to the club here than at City. I have nothing against City and I had a great time there but when I played for City, the stadium wasn’t always full, whereas here, you never see that [here].

"Here, the stadium is full even when we play friendlies, so you can see that there is more passion for the club here than there is there. The most important thing for Spurs now, though, is to keep this team together and to add some players, not to sell two players and then try to rebuild the team because then it’s a hard thing to do."

It's up for debate as to whether the former right-back would hold the same sentiment today given City's upwards trajectory in the Pep Guardiola era. The gap between them and Spurs has only increased since his days in England, though Ange Postecoglou will hope to turn that ship in the right direction this weekend.

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