Ex Super Eagles forward has revealed that he missed out on signing for current EPL champions Manchester City before going on to join Portsmouth for a then-record fee of 7 million pounds.
Utaka had bagged 22 goals in 63 games for Rennes and became a subject of many offers but Harry Redknapp was the one who got him over to Portsmouth.
Utaka said “I had Manchester City before Portsmouth but I didn’t know. I knew after I signed for Portsmouth. The manager had an agreement with Portsmouth so he did not want to spoil the deal. He told me afterwards and I said anyway he had an agreement and you have to respect it”.
Utaka said he doesn’t regret the decision as he believes it was destined to happen that way. “If I had played for Manchester City I would not have won the F.A Cup. These things are like destiny, you can’t change it”.
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The Enugu-born forward went on to play for Montpellier, Sivasspor and a few other clubs in Asia and North Africa.
Godwin N
