While his managerial career never saw him win a Premier League title, Harry Redknapp still had a memorable run in the hot seat and got to work with some of the best footballers to ever play in the English top flight. He managed an array of exciting teams, such as Portsmouth during their heyday in the division and Tottenham Hotspur, guiding the North London club to the top four and Champions League football.
In fact, if it wasn't for Redknapp, Spurs may have never become one of the Premier League's big six. Before he joined, they were languishing near the bottom of the table and he transformed their fortunes. He didn't do it alone, though. The former West Ham United boss worked with some quality footballers during his stint at Tottenham and he even revealed that he thought one of his ex-players was only behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of the best footballers on the planet.
The duo dominated football throughout the late 2000s and 2010s. They're even still operating at a high level now, but during their primes, no one could touch them. The pair were head and shoulders above anyone else, but Redknapp believes that one of his former stars, Gareth Bale, was the next best star in football.
Redknapp Thinks Gareth Bale Was the Best Player Behind Ronaldo and Messi
The duo spent four years together at Tottenham
One year after Tottenham signed Gareth Bale from Southampton, Redknapp took charge as manager of the club and the two embarked on a fruitful tenure together. Under the Englishman's tutelage, the Welsh star became a superstar and his transition from a defensive role to one out on the wing changed everything. He was dazzling under Redknapp and the former Portsmouth manager had some very high praise for him. Speaking to talkSPORT in 2021, when Bale was struggling for confidence on the pitch, the ex-manager said:
"I don't know what the problem is with Gareth at the moment. He’s not the most confident of boys. I know he’s been one of the top players in the world, let’s be honest, there was a spell where, for me, he’d probably been the third-best player around behind Messi and Ronaldo. He was that good when he was at his best.
"But he’s still not a very confident boy. He’s one of those lads who, no matter how great you are, it doesn't change his personality, and he’s a very quiet lad. He needs confidence and he needs somebody to believe in him."
Bale ultimately spent six years with Tottenham before moving to Real Madrid. He returned for a brief spell on loan during the 2020/21 season and across his two stints with the side, he played 237 games and scored 71 goals. He was also named the Premier League Player of the Year during his final season at Spurs in 2013. It's hard to imagine there will be too many fans who disagree with Redknapp's notion that Bale was once the third-best player in the world. He is the greatest Welsh footballer of all time, after all.