Harry Redknapp told police his home was at risk after he lost millions of pounds in disastrous investments, a court heard.

The Tottenham Hotspur boss urged detectives to ask his solicitor if he had “ever come across anyone as bad, business wise”.

He said he lost £6million in a property venture in Southsea, Hampshire, and squandered £250,000 to help his friend Jim Smith keep his managerial job at Oxford United.

Redknapp, tipped as a future England boss, also said he had paid £1million in tax in 2008, before adding: “We are givers not takers.”

During interviews with City of London police, Redknapp said: “I am not a tax fiddler, I am not any kind of tax fiddler, never have been in my life.”

In transcripts read out at Southwark Crown Court, Redknapp said he paid £8.5million on property in Southsea.

He said he had a chance to share the investment with a Samir Khan.

Redknapp told officers: “I’ve signed a form that says he’s half in, and he ain’t put no money in, and I’ve signed the forms now, you can ask my solicitor in Bournemouth, and they can’t believe that I didn't read anything. I thought he said ‘I’ll meet you half way, I’ll put half in what you put in’.”

He added: “To try and nick a few quid off the income tax... why? I am not into that. I don’t need that. I would rather give you a hundred grand than nick a few quid off you.

“That’s how I live. I have got a golf day tomorrow... I give £15,000 tomorrow to Leukaemia Busters.”

Both Redknapp, 64, of Poole, Dorset, and Milan Mandaric, from Oadby, Leicestershire, deny two counts of cheating the public revenue when Redknapp was manager of Portsmouth Football Club.

Jurors will return on Monday, to hear final prosecution submissions