Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager, was one of five people arrested today by police in their ongoing probe into alleged corruption in football.

Redknapp and Milan Mandaric, the Leicester City chairman and former Portsmouth chairman, were held after early morning raids this morning involving officers from the City of London Police.

Amdy Faye, the Rangers midfielder formerly with Portsmouth, football agent Willie McKay and Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie were also held as officers searched eight addresses across the UK.

Redknapp, who has been linked with the vacant England manager's job, was questioned at Chichester Police Station. He was released this evening.

It is understood that his luxury home in Poole, Dorset, was raided at 6am but he was not there because he had been away overnight in Germany, watching the Champions League match between Stuttgart and Rangers. Rednapp is believed to have contacted the City of London Police when he learned what had happened.

“Five men have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting as part of an ongoing investigation into football corruption,” said a City of London Police spokeswoman.

“One search is under way, seven additional searches at a variety of locations across the country have now been concluded.”

A spokesman for Redknapp's club, Portsmouth, said: “Portsmouth Football Club can confirm that chief executive Peter Storrie and manager Harry Redknapp have today been asked to help police with their inquiries concerning a matter dating back to 2003.

“This was prior to the new owner taking control of the club at the beginning of 2006. The club is fully supportive of Peter and Harry who are co-operating fully with City of London Police in this ongoing inquiry.

“Both are playing major roles in the continued success of Portsmouth Football Club.”

The raids were the latest development in attempts by the authorities to root out corruption in the national game, which began after the report by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington this summer into football transfers.

The Quest team led by Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police commissioner, trawled 362 transfer deals made over a 15-month period.

In July, police searched Newcastle United, Portsmouth and Rangers, although they were at pains to point out that it was as part of a separate investigation into corruption and not linked with Stevens’s findings. Computers and documents were seized but nobody was arrested and all three clubs denied any wrongdoing.

Police also questioned Pascal Chimbonda, the Tottenham Hotspur defender, as a witness in their earlier inquiries, though there was no suggestion of any wrongdoing on his part.

Explore Football

• Premier League

• Football League

• Scotland

• European Football

• International Football

• TheGame

• Live Match Tracker

• The Fink Tank

• Fantasy Football