Tottenham deny £10m Bassong bid

Harry Redknapp has rubbished reports that Tottenham have submitted a bid for Newcastle defender Sebastien Bassong, although admitted the defender is a player he is interested in.

Reports emerged today that Newcastle had rejected a £10m bid from Spurs after the club's chief scout watched the 23-year-old Frenchman in action in the friendly at home to Leeds in midweek.

Redknapp is likely to be in the market for a defender with Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson set to miss the start of the season through injury while Ledley King has yet to kick a ball this summer.

But, speaking in Hong Kong following Tottenham's 2-0 defeat to South China in an exhibition match, Redknapp denied the club have made a bid for Bassong.

"It is not true. Not since I have been here today," he said.

"He is a player that I was interested in. I like Bassong, he is a young player with a good future and a good central defender.

"I don't think we have made an offer as far as I know. I am sure the chairman has not made an offer."

Tottenham's defeat at the Hong Kong stadium was their first in the Far East this summer after they beat Premier League rivals West Ham and Hull last week to win the Barclays Asia Trophy in Beijing.

With the game being Spurs' fourth in the space of a week Redknapp fielded several young players, although sprung something of a surprise at half-time by bringing Robbie Keane into central midfield.

With Tottenham able to boast Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko in attack as well as Keane, it may appear he is considering an alternative position to accommodate the Republic of Ireland captain.

"I brought him on at half-time as JJ (Jermaine Jenas) had a bit of an injury and I didn't want to push him too far," added Redknapp.

"Robbie came on, he played in there but he is a good player and he can play several positions.

"He is a good player. He is always enthusiastic and he loves to play wherever he is asked to play."

Spurs now head back to England following a busy few weeks but Redknapp believes the intense schedule will prove beneficial for the players come the start of the season.

"It has been tough but we go home now and have a break this week while even next week in the last friendly before the start of the season I won't take chances with many of the players because a lot have international games before the Liverpool game," he said.

"I changed things around an awful lot (today) and gave the ones who haven't played a game a chance. It was a good experience for the younger players as they had not played on this trip."