Harry Redknapp has delivered a frank assessment of English football's homegrown talent crisis, warning that Premier League clubs have abandoned the academy conveyor belt that once produced the likes of Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick.

Speaking from his home in Poole, Dorset, the former manager told journalist Henry Winter that the picture at the top of the English game is troubling. Nearly 73 percent of all Premier League minutes played this season have gone to foreign players — a figure Redknapp finds deeply concerning.

Lampard's drive and Coventry's fight

Redknapp, who signed Lampard as an apprentice at West Ham United in 1994, spoke with admiration about his nephew's commitment to management. Now 48, Lampard is leading Coventry City in the Championship after previously managing Derby County, Chelsea, and Everton.

"He doesn't have to go to work, that's for sure," Redknapp said. "He loves the game. He could easily play golf every day if he wanted. But he's driven — he wants to be as big a success as a manager as he was as a player."

Redknapp recalled watching the young Lampard training alone at West Ham after sessions had ended — shooting, sprinting, and doing laps in the cold and dark. "I've never seen anybody anywhere near him the way he trained. Every day wanting to prove everybody wrong and become a great player."

On Coventry's survival prospects, Redknapp was cautiously optimistic. He believes Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton, Brentford, and Bournemouth are safe, meaning the relegation battle will involve Coventry alongside the other promoted sides and clubs such as Crystal Palace, Fulham, and Nottingham Forest. "It's going to take another great achievement to stay up, if we're perfectly honest," he said.

Carrick and the Manchester United problem

Redknapp also spoke warmly about Michael Carrick, whom he brought into the West Ham United youth setup in 1997 before handing him his first-team debut. He noted Carrick's composed touchline manner — contrasting it pointedly with the animated celebrations of managers such as Roberto De Zerbi — but stressed that a quiet exterior masks fierce ambition.

"He's got that steely determination," Redknapp said. "Otherwise he probably wouldn't be bothering — he's done very well out of the game."

On the wider Manchester United squad, Redknapp was blunt. He questioned how many of the current players would have made it into one of Sir Alex Ferguson's sides. "Bruno Fernandes might have got into the squad," he suggested. "But if your players are not good enough, you're not going to be challenging. Manchester City and Arsenal have a different class of squad entirely."

Redknapp agreed with Lisandro Martinez's public criticism of the club's recruitment, but took issue with the manner of it. "He's part of that problem. He hasn't exactly been incredible himself. If he'd been Harry Kane, on another level, maybe he'd have a right to voice it publicly — but coming from him, it didn't ring great with me."

The England question and the missing leaders

Redknapp expressed hope that Lampard could one day succeed Thomas Tuchel as England manager. He also flagged Eddie Howe as another strong English candidate, lamenting that home-grown coaches rarely get the opportunity to manage top-six clubs.

"They come into teams that are struggling, and then it's hard for them to be a success," he said. "You only have to look at who wins the league and the cups every year — it's not an English manager."

Redknapp himself came close to the England job in 2012 after Fabio Capello's resignation, at one point listed as short as 10/1 on by bookmakers. He believes that generation — featuring Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Lampard, and Rio Ferdinand — should have won a major tournament.

He closed with a broader lament about the disappearance of English leaders from the game. "Where are the John Terrys? The Tony Adamses? Great captains, organisers, talkers. They're not there any more — because the English players themselves aren't there any more."