Harry Redknapp: I had my fingers burned in January transfer market… but Paolo Di Canio deal showed you can strike gold

I’M no fan of shopping but I love a bargain in the January sales. The big problem is finding them.

And if you think that’s hard on the high street, try sniffing one out in the mid-season transfer window. Virtually impossible.

Harry Redknapp brought Paolo Di Canio to West Ham in 1999News Group Newspapers Ltd

Di Canio went on to become a club legend at Upton ParkNews Group Newspapers Ltd

There are plenty of frustrations to life as a manager, but this compares with any. No wonder they call January the most depressing month.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the first person to come up with that phrase was a football boss. You won’t get an argument from me.

And while it’s tough for the top clubs it’s even harder for the ones near the bottom — those desperate to find a player who can turn their season around.

The problem is that selling clubs know how frantic they are, so the fee naturally goes through the roof.

Finding the right player is tough enough, but at the right price? You tend to need deeper pockets in January, for sure.

I had 30-odd years as a manager so of course I got my fingers burned at times. But there were others when you would strike gold and get a real gem.

And ironically I have to admit for all my moaning about the January window, that’s when I got two of the best. Maybe the best two I ever signed.

The first was as West Ham boss in 1999, when we paid £1.5million for Paolo Di Canio, who was still serving a ban at Sheffield Wednesday for shoving ref Paul Alcock.

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Andres D’Alessandro was a revelation for Redknapp at West HamNews Group Newspapers Ltd

Everyone said I was mad and I knew it was a risk. But I’ve always loved a gamble — only this one didn’t turn out to be a gamble at all.

Di Canio was a sensation, absolutely brilliant for me and the club. The fans loved him and he loved West Ham.

The other was an unknown Argentine kid called Andres D’Alessandro, who I’d wanted years earlier at Upton Park, but we were unable to sort anything.

In January 2006 I got him on a six-month loan at Portsmouth. It surprised even me as manager!

We were in a mess at the time, but D’Alessandro was brilliant and we stayed up. I’d have loved to sign him permanently, yet there was no chance.

He hit the ground running and never stopped, so it makes me laugh when clubs pay big money and then excuse players by saying “he doesn’t know the English game yet”.

If I’m paying £80m or more, I expect them to know what they’re doing, wherever they’re playing! D’Alessandro did, so why not Antony, Mykhailo Mudryk or whoever?

Back in the day, if you were after a midfielder, striker or whatever, you’d be out five nights a week watching games all over the country.

Usually with half a dozen other managers or chief scouts, sitting in the freezing cold to check out a bloke you thought could do a job.

The two things you needed were a warm coat and a knowledgeable eye.

Admittedly they were different times. You were largely only talking British signings. These days clubs are scouring the world and it’s impossible for a manager to see them all.

So they massively depend on their recruitment team — and in many cases we’re talking young people with no experience who have got the job because of an impressive presentation.

These are the ones coming up with recommendations but when it doesn’t work out, they’re not the ones who are blamed.

There is no magic wand for a manager. It’s about having the best players, even for Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. And that is hugely down to your head of recruitment.

Often their work is based around statistics. It’s a world away from when clubs would give a kid a chance or take a punt on someone a division below.

But sometimes that’s where you find the real hunger, the ones who know what it means to get an opportunity and make sure they take it.

Bristol City had loads of them against West Ham in the FA Cup, especially Tommy Conway, the 21-year-old striker who got the winner.

Conway’s been there since the age of seven. He stood on the terraces with his dad and here he was scoring against a Premier League team.

He cared and it showed — and that’s something no amount of money will buy, whether it’s January or summer.

Redknapp built a reputation on signing players late in the transfer windowSplash

TRANSFER NEWS LIVE: All the latest transfer deals from around the world this January