Jamie Redknapp had a sweet moment of reflection as he marked his youngest son Raphael's third birthday on Tuesday.
A series of photos posted on the former footballer's Instagram page showed how Raphael was taking after his famous father. Not only was the newborn wearing a grey onesie that matched Jamie's tracksuit shortly after his birth in 2021, but he had the same cheeky grin as his father as he sat inside a blue stationary car, and he looked lost in concentration as he kicked a football in a white and gold Emirates sports outfit.
"Happy 3rd Birthday to my boy Raphael. We love you so, so much little man," said doting dad Jamie, who shares his son with his second wife Frida.
By starting the post with a throwback photo of his baby boy, Jamie left fans wondering if he had announced he had expanded his family and welcomed another child. Fans wrote: "I thought for a minute it was a new baby," and: "I was ready to say congrats."
Meanwhile, others couldn't believe Raphael was already turning three. "Wow that's flown over," commented a third, and a fourth added: "Omg [where] have the years gone."
Family football passion
Jamie admitted he inherited his passion for football from his father, and he has passed it on to his sons. Looking back at the "pressure" Harry Redknapp put on him, he told the Daily Mail: "He probably didn’t know what he was doing, it was probably subconscious, but he put a lot more pressure on me than he realised.
"He didn’t shout at me, but he always had his eye on me and he’d always give me a sign. I just wanted to please him. I put pressure on myself. I adored football and I adored him – still do, he’s the best dad you could ever have. So as long as I was playing well, I was happy."
Raphael is not the only one who has taken after his father and shown his sporting talents at a young age. Jamie's eldest two sons Charley and Beau – whom he shares with his ex-wife Louise Redknapp – are also skilled at rugby and football.
In an interview with The Telegraph in 2020, Jamie said: "The younger me wouldn’t be very curious about my romantic life, but if we had that conversation, I’d probably tell him that sometimes things happen in your life and you can’t control them. You just have to look after the kids and be the best you can.
"My younger self would probably look up to my older boy [Charley], who’s a rugby player and totally different to how I was as a kid. He’d have got on well with the younger one [Beau], who loves playing football."
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