Redknapp cancels McDonald order
Portsmouth have dropped out of the race for Kenyan international McDonald Mariga after manager Harry Redknapp learned it would be tough to obtain a British work permit for the £1.7 million-rated striker.
Mariga is available for transfer at Swedish club Helsingborg but British Home Office rules state an overseas player wishing to sign for a Barclays Premiership club must play for a country in the top 70 of the FIFA rankings – and Kenya are currently 124th.
Redknapp admits: “I don’t think I’ll be going for him. We wouldn’t be able to get a permit.”
Having signed centre-backs Sylvain Distin and Hermann Hreidarsson on free transfers and splashed a club record £7million on midfielder Sulley Muntari, Redknapp is now focused on more firepower.
After missing out on Mark Viduka, who joined Newcastle at the end of his Middlesbrough contract Redknapp has been linked with likes of Nicolas Anelka - who he tried to sign last summer – Henri Camara and QPR winger Lee Cook.
Now Toulouse winger Fode Mansare has been added to the list but Redknapp will not confirm his targets – or a report that he has bid £2million for Cook, 24.
Svetoslav Todorov – who failed to start for Portsmouth after scoring in the the opening game against Blackburn last season – is “thinking over” the offer of new one-year deal while on holiday in his native Bulgaria.
The striker, 28, explained: “I have lost my international place because I am not playing club football regularly. So I have to think carefully about the new offer.”
Top-scorer Kanu is likely to play brinkmanship with Pompey right up until the start of the new campaign over the terms of his new contract offer.
The 30-year-old wants two years but has been offered one year with an option for one more if he plays 25 games or more next term.
Pompey chief executive Peter Storrie insists this is the final offer.
