Harry Redknapp opens up on Tottenham star's heartbreaking kidnap and murder tragedy

Management poses many challenges, but few coaches in football history have been posed with the situation Harry Redknapp faced at Tottenham regarding Wilson Palacios and his family

'Everton away' are two words which would still make Harry Redknapp shudder.

The former Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth manager's discomfort with the blue side of Merseyside is not down to football reasons, though. Back on May 9, 2009, Redknapp came downstairs for breakfast to find then Spurs star Wilson Palacios sitting with his bags packed.

Redknapp, 77, was not expecting to find the dynamic midfielder waiting in the hotel lobby ahead of the game. Palacios would reveal, though, the devastating news that rendered football meaningless.

Palacios' 16-year-old brother Edwin, who had been kidnapped and held for ransom in their native Honduras since 2007, had been murdered. That was despite Honduran police claiming a ransom fee of $500,000 (£331,500 at the time) had been paid to the captors.

In an exclusive interview with Mirror Football, Redknapp looked back on that fateful day on Merseyside. He said: "We were playing away at Everton when the message came through. They had paid ransom money to the kidnappers. But they killed him.

"When he (Palacios) got that news, I'll never forget that. Early in the morning, I came down into the lobby, and he was sitting there with a bag that had his stuff in.

"He found out at about 2 in the morning. He got a phone call, but he didn't want to disturb me in the night, which was unbelievable. You know, he was that respectful of a person.

"It was only when I came down at 8 o'clock in the morning for breakfast that he told me what had happened and that he had to leave. He couldn't play that day, he travelled back to his family. Wilson was one incredible guy."

At the time, Redknapp had to face the media to explain what had happened. He confirmed the club arranged for a car to drive Palacios back to London so he could get the next flight.

He also said that Palacios' mother had also been visiting the UK from Honduras for the first time when the news first emerged. In interviews after the devastation, Palacios revealed he considered quitting football following the tragedy.

In January 2010, he said: “Yes, it’s true, I did come close to retiring. But there were two reasons why I carried on. Firstly it’s always been my dream to be a footballer.

"But mainly it was down to taking advice from my family and friends." He added: “You never get over it. Edwin is with God now and in a better place."

Palacios would go on to move to Stoke City in 2011, where he spent four seasons, before playing for Miami FC and Argentine sides CD Olimpia and Real Sociedad.

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