Summer Window Watch; Portsmouth - Week 2

Into the second week of July and the pesky attentions of Sunderland still surround Peter Crouch. The England striker is thought by the Guardian (July 6) to be main target for Steve Bruce, who is also interested in Tottenham’s Darren Bent. The thought of a Bent-Crouch headline should be enough to make your average hack drool, but the moment seems to have passed me by.

Tuesday (July 7) brings thoughts of a reunion. The Portsmouth News says that former Pompey goal-getter Benjani Mwaruwari could be on his way back to Fratton Park;

“I left on a good note and I have nothing but good feelings about them, that's for sure.” claims the 30-year-old, shrewdly spotting a queue for his Manchester City place forming behind the likes of Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz and company.

The Sun amongst others has Crouch on his way to Aston Villa rather than Sunderland. They admit the continued interest of Bruce’s men, suggesting a £10million deal is still possible, but make Villa favourites on the grounds that John Carew faces an ‘uncertain’ future. Don’t we all?

This writer has no idea how to pronounce the name of South African midfielder Kagisho Dicgakoi, but what he does know is that the Daily Telegraph claim that Portsmouth are interested. So too, according to the report, are Fulham, who seem to crop up a lot in connection with any player attracting the interest of Portsmouth. Is that a coincidence, or are all of the clubs outside the top four fighting for the same unknown scraps, hoping to find that diamond in the rough? Cynic.

Whatever the truth of the matter Portsmouth are still an unattractive enough proposition to be insulted by donkey journeymen like Marc Antoine Fortune. The former West Brom loanee, who couldn’t pull up a weed in our back yard let alone any trees in last season’s Premier League, has decided to snub both Pompey and Hull City in favour of joining Celtic. Not only that, but he stands to lose £1million in doing so. It’s like being knocked back by the fat bird in the bar at two in the morning, only to see her walk out with Iain Dowie ten minutes later.

All of this is according to rumours in the Daily Record. A Scottish newspaper.

By Thursday (July 9) The Times are suggesting that Sunderland’s bid for Crouch is up to £11million. That’s just £1million short of the £12million that Portsmouth paid Liverpool for the striker, and therefore just £1million short of the most brilliant piece of salesmanship since Freddie Shepherd sold Newcastle United to Mike Ashley.

But never mind the players for the moment, the Daily Star has sensational news regarding the manager’s position. Now we think that Paul Hart is still the boss, but that doesn’t stop the paper suggesting that the club have held talks with former Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini. Apparently, the Italian’s decision depends heavily on whether or not a £60million take-over of the club can be completed by a ’Middle Eastern’ consortium. Word is that talks have stalled.

You always worry when agents get involved in the publicity surrounding transfers. That’s why Pompey fans should hide behind the sofa now as we bring news that Crouch’s Mr 10% Jonathan Barnett has revealed that the England man is ‘available’. That’s according to the Portsmouth News once more, who are either intensely paranoid that their team is going to lose Crouch, or merely facing up to facts.;

“I think Portsmouth have financial problems. I think every player is available.” is the quote attributed to Barnett, who may have forgotten that somebody has to stick around to enable Pompey to put a team out on to the field on the first day of the season. Any volunteers? Thought not.

Back to Mancini, who according to the Daily Mirror will only join Portsmouth if he has a ‘guaranteed’ and ‘substantial’ transfer budget. So, since nobody knows who will own, manage or be playing for the club by the time the season kicks off, it is likely that this story and others like it will run and run. Unlike Peter Crouch, who ambles and ambles.

Saturday’s Daily Mail (July 11) has Fulham heading the race to sign Crouch. Apparently their £11million bid will be enough to see off the challenge of Sunderland. This is because the Cottagers have agreed a deal to sell Bobby Zamora to Hull City, while Sunderland have spent some of their transfer budget on bringing Frazier Campbell in for around £5million. On the other hand, the Times say that the Black Cats are ready to splash as much as £15million on Crouch, regardless of having forked out for Campbell. Now that really would be bad luck for the Black Cats.

By Stephen Orford

12 July 2009