Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp can understand why Dimitar Berbatov quit the club for Manchester United.

In his column for The Sun, Redknapp wrote: "He is bound to attract some stick from the Spurs fans tomorrow when he returns with United.

"That has always gone on in football and you expect it.

"But one thing that has changed is that clubs can't really keep players any more.

"I was not manager of Tottenham when he left in August. But I doubt I would have been able to get him to stay anyway. Managers can no longer shout and bawl at players to get them to play better, to motivate them.

"You would not last five minutes these days. Likewise, if a player makes up his mind to go, you cannot order him to stay. For one, I think Tottenham were quite happy to let him go. It was a move which suited everybody. You don't really want to keep an unhappy player at your club.

"It was also a good deal. Tottenham trebled the £10million they had paid for him a couple of years earlier and maybe he had done what he could for the club."