Man City new boy Benjani Mwaruwari had to ask himself if he was having a 'bad dream' when told he was to be sold by Portsmouth.
City new boy never wanted to leave Pompey
Manchester City new boy Benjani Mwaruwari had to ask himself if he was having a 'bad dream' when told he was to be sold by Portsmouth.
In the transfer window's most high-profile and protracted transfer Portsmouth accepted City's offer for their top goalscorer, before going on to bring in Jermain Defoe as the Zimbabwean's replacement.
The move was complicated after Benjani fell asleep at the airport and missed two planes to Manchester, resulting in key paperwork failing to arrive at the Football Association in time to beat the deadline.
Benjani's switch to Eastlands has now been ratified and the player has spoken at length for the first time about his surprise at being off-loaded.
"I kept asking myself all day whether this was all true," Benjani told
The Herald.
"I kept telling myself that it was all a bad dream. It was tough to leave Portsmouth and I was late leaving my home for Manchester because I thought it was all a bad dream and I would wake up the following day and still be a Pompey player.
"But this was not a dream."
No dream
Having failed to impress in his first full season at Fratton Park, Benjani established himself as a fans' favourite this term with his goalscoring exploits.
And given he repeatedly won the praise of his manager Harry Redknapp it comes as no surprise he was shocked and disappointed to be sold.
"It was never my choice to leave Pompey because of the special relationship that I had with the supporters, with my team-mates and with the coach.
"I was very happy at Pompey and I think this season I showed that I had settled down well and I was beginning to produce the goals for the club.
"There are some things in football that are more important than money and one of those things is a special relationship a player can enjoy with the supporters and the coach.
"I had all that at Portsmouth and I was really enjoying myself playing football in a very good environment and knowing that everyone was happy with what I was doing for the club.
"I was shocked when I was told on Tuesday that I was going to be sold to Manchester City before the transfer window closed.
"I did not know the two clubs had been talking about a transfer and I only knew on Tuesday that there were plans for me to go elsewhere.
"I asked for the reason why I was being sold and they told me that it was a good business deal since Manchester City were paying a lot of money - especially considering my age - and they could also get younger players in return."
It is not, though, all doom and gloom for the 29-year-old; as he is more than content with the terms offered by City.
Great deal
"It's the best deal, in terms of remuneration, in my entire career and I was just happy with the respect I had received from Manchester City so I signed after a few minutes," he concluded.
"It's not easy for a 29-year-old African player to get such a deal in Europe.
"The manager Sven Goran Eriksson made the long journey to London on transfer deadline day to get my work permit and you have to respect that.
"It's not every day that you get a manager of Eriksson's calibre travelling such long distances to ensure that a player's work permit is in order.
"Even when things did not appear to be going on well, Eriksson was still confident that everything would be fine.
"He asked me three times whether I had made up my mind to join City and he said he would give me all the support I need.
"It's a fresh challenge and maybe it was also the time for me to face such a fresh challenge."
