Redknapp has been incredibly lucky in inheriting hugely talented young players wherever he's managed, whether it be Gareth Bale at Tottenham, Theo Walcott at Southampton, or a whole generation including Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand at West Ham. As a result, he has a perhaps undeserved reputation for developing young talent. In the transfer market, however, he tends to prefer the tried, tested and past their best. Perhaps the reason for this is indicated by what happens when Redknapp tries to buy promising young talent. England Under-21 international Mutch was one of the few bright spots in Cardiff City's similarly overspending, underperforming season in the Premier League, so at £6 million he seemed a reasonable buy for Redknapp last summer. However, he was quickly dismissed as "not in the manager's plans", struggling against the even more pricy Leroy Fer and a whole load of other attacking central midfielders. He only played in 9 league games, rarely in his preferred position, before being allowed to join Crystal Palace this month for £4.75 million. That's a loss of over a million after just five months on a player that still has a lot of potential.
