Manchester City should have signed Chelsea captain John Terry says Harry Redknapp

Manchester City should have tried to sign John Terry in the January transfer window, according to Harry Redknapp. The 35-year-old defender recently announced he is to leave Stamford Bridge at the end of the current season, having not been offered a new contract, and Redknapp thinks the Mancunians should have attempted to lure him to the Etihad Stadium.

Redknapp thinks City lack the quality defenders needed to overhaul Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City in the Premier League title race. However, he believes their chances would have been vastly improved if they had signed the former England captain.

"If I had been at Man City I would have got on the phone on transfer deadline day and tried to take John Terry there, saying 'if you're not going to give him a contract we'll have him'," Redknapp explained, according to The Telegraph. "I think he could have won the League for them. They wouldn't have got smashed up like they did against Leicester. He'd have marked Robert Huth better at set-plays than whoever marked him last Saturday."

Redknapp thinks the Chelsea captain would be a major upgrade on the defenders the club already have. "Man City have just not been good enough this season. They started off like a house on fire, we all thought they were going to walk away with the League. But you don't know what you are getting from them. They are all open and they can't defend," he said.

"Pep Guardiola can go to Man City, but unless he gets some defenders in he ain't going to win the Champions League, I don't care who he is."

Redknapp also said Chelsea are making a mistake in allowing the player to leave the west London club. "Personally, I would keep John, I would have him there (at Chelsea) all day," he explained.

"From Chelsea's point of view, had they done it (announced his departure) in the summer it would have had less impact. People go on holiday, cricket starts, Europeans Championships. Whereas now every week it is going to be about John.

"He has got the crowd on his side, so from his point of view he wants to stay, but he has let people know and said 'who wants me?' Whether it is America, or China or whoever. The Americans wouldn't understand John Terry. They like someone who dribbles and beats five players."