HARRY Redknapp will seek assurances he can attempt to rewrite his own history if Liverpool succeed with a reported £6m bid for Saints ace Peter Crouch.

The European Champions League finalists are reported to have joined an ever-increasing list of admirers for the man who belted 16 goals in 2004/05 and won an England call-up for next week's tour of the USA as a result.

Sven-Goran Eriksson has already stated that Crouch is likely to make his first senior start in the friendly against Columbia next Saturday.

Redknapp has publicly admitted that Saints cannot afford to lose Crouch if they are serious about getting back into the Premiership as quickly as possible.

But the manager will know that, with Crouch's wages having been halved in the wake of relegation, the club will struggle to hold onto the player if Liverpool make a formal bid.

Redknapp, then, will ask chairman Rupert Lowe to ensure that a large part of any transfer fee is ploughed straight back into team building.

They are the sort of assurances the manager is believed to want before committing his future to Saints.

Crouch was sold to Aston Villa in March 2002 for £5m, just two days after Redknapp had taken over at Portsmouth following Graham Rix's sacking.

Using the proceeds from that sale, Redknapp brought in a host of players and led Pompey into the Premiership just over a year later.

Just under £2m in total went on buying Svetoslav Todorov (West Ham, £750,000), Eddie Howe (Bournemouth, £400,000), Hayden Foxe (West Ham, £400,000), Matt Taylor (Luton, £400,000) and Richard Hughes (Bournemouth, £50,000).

The rest of the Crouch money went towards wages for free transfer signings such as Arjan De Zeeuw (Wigan), Shaka Hislop (West Ham), Carl Robinson (Wolves), Paul Merson (Aston Villa), Gianluca Festa (Mboro), Steve Stone (Aston Villa) and Tim Sherwood (Spurs).

Crouch has also been linked with Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers in recent weeks, with Bolton boss Sam Allardyce a confirmed fan of the 6ft 7in striker.