No more sales at Portsmouth says chairman
Thursday 08 January 2009
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Portsmouth executive chairman Peter Storrie maintains there will be no other major players leaving Fratton Park during the January transfer window.
Both midfielder Lassana Diarra and England striker Jermain Defoe have been sold in big-money deals to Real Madrid and Tottenham.
However, that will now be the end of departures from Tony Adams' squad, meaning the likes of sought-after Niko Kranjcar, Glen Johnson and forward Peter Crouch will be going nowhere.
Storrie told The Portsmouth News: "Let me make it abundantly clear - there will be no more players sold.
"We do not need to sell any more players. Jermain wanted to go, so he went and I can assure you he will be the only one.
"As far as anyone else wanting to leave, there have been no others speaking to me about it whatsoever.
"Everyone else is perfectly happy at this football club.
"None of the others will be leaving. We are now concentrating on bringing others in and strengthening the squad."
Portsmouth are, though, understood to be unhappy with Spurs' decision to parade Defoe on the pitch at White Hart Lane before their midweek Carling Cup semi-final against Burnley when the £15m deal had not yet been formally completed or ratified by the Premier League.
Storrie maintains Pompey had no choice other than to let Defoe leave after the player, who only arrived at Fratton Park from Spurs a year earlier, became unsettled amid transfer speculation.
"At the end of the day, you want to keep a player like Jermain Defoe but clearly his head had been turned," Storrie said.
"When you get in that situation, sometimes you can persuade players to stay, other times it's quite clear they have no intention of changing their mind.
"Really, with Jermain that was that - his mind was made up and he wanted to go.
"Of course it was disappointing, but there was nothing we could do about it. He had made his position quite clear.
"In the end we got a good deal for him. Effectively, we got him on loan for a year and have made £6m profit in the process."
Portsmouth return to Barclays Premier League action this weekend, when Manchester City come to Fratton Park.
Johnson could return from a knee problem, but midfielder Papa Bouba Diop has been ruled out for three months with cruciate ligament damage.
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