[Dirtycheat]

Confusion surrounds Benjani deal

Originally Posted by BBC Sport

Portsmouth have contacted the Premier League to see whether Benjani's move to Manchester c*ty can still go ahead.

Pompey claim they went ahead with the purchase of Jermain Defoe from Spurs after c*ty told them they had submitted the relevant forms for Benjani.

But c*ty say the transfer collapsed because the Zimbabwean arrived too late in Manchester to complete the deal before the midnight deadline.

The Premier League is examining the timeline of the relevant paperwork.


Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp revealed the club had received a call at 2355 GMT - five minutes before the transfer window closed - from Manchester c*ty saying they had completed the relevant documents to sign Benjani.

"That's when Peter Storrie (Portsmouth chief executive) gave the go-ahead for our forms (to register Defoe) to go through," said Redknapp.

"Once their forms were sent, we had to get ours off very quickly. I thought we were struggling for time."

But after completing the Defoe deal for £9m, Portsmouth were then contacted by the Premier League at 0015 GMT saying they had not received all the documents to complete the Benjani deal.

However, Manchester c*ty maintain the 29-year-old did not turn up in time to complete a medical.

"Their one had dragged on a bit because Benji had a bit of a delay getting there with one thing and another," said Redknapp.

"As far as we knew, they sent their forms so I don't see why there should be a problem."

"The grey area now is what paperwork was sent (to the Premier League) at what time between 2355 GMT and midnight," said BBC Sport's John Southall.

If the Benjani deal does fall through, it could leave Portsmouth financially short having banked on using the reported £7m transfer fee to fund Defoe's move from White Hart Lane.

"If 'Benj' is back then we'll have to see where we go with that one," said Redknapp.

"He's a good player and we didn't want to lose him. But we just needed to balance the books with him going and Defoe coming."

this one could potentially backfire on pompey and defoe but it has to be said, Benjani has improved a lot this season. In his first season he couldn't kick a ball straight but now he is lethal upfront.

Not sure why they would want to sell a player who has been so good for them for less than the replacement who IMO might not be as good.