Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp has urged Celtic boss Gordon Strachan not to block Stilian Petrov's dream move to the Premiership.

The 26-year-old Bulgarian international has spent seven years at Parkhead but has handed in two transfer requests in recent months.

Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric has already begun negotiating with the Glasgow club but Strachan is still hopeful the midfielder will be part of his plans next season.

Redknapp, though, says he is keen to grant Petrov his wish of playing in England.

He told the Scottish Sun: "We're really interested in him but they don't want to sell him. "I've been told he's put in a transfer request and he's a player I rate very highly.

"Personally, I'd let him go if I was Celtic boss. Sometimes you might not get the best out of a player if he doesn't want to be at the club. If he's handed in a transfer request then he can't be happy.

"But he belongs to Celtic and I don't want to get into a war with them. If they decided they want to do some business with us then we would definitely be interested.

"Celtic are a fantastic football club but it's not a fantastic league. The Premiership is a million miles in front."