Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp admits he was surprised signing Scott Parker without any competition from Arsenal.

Redknapp managed to take advantage of Arsene Wenger's hesitation and land the England midfielder for Tottenham - and Parker has repaid the faith with an excellent start to the season.

On the eve of the first north London derby of the season, Redknapp said: "I thought maybe they would take Scotty. That was always my one concern.

"We wanted him and Arsenal were always the team and then Chelsea came in for him and I thought maybe he might go there. But I thought Arsenal might take him.

"They nearly took [defender Gary] Cahill from Bolton. I thought they wanted to take Scott. I could see him going there are one stage.

"I think in the end we went in for Scott when there was no-one else there, really. He is not going to move up north to wherever.

"And I think Tottenham was the move he really wanted."