Article
Transfer-tussle Benjani stuck in no-man´s land
LONDON (AFP) - Zimbabwe striker Benjani Mwaruwari found himself marooned in no-man's land on Friday after his proposed transfer from Portsmouth to Manchester City hit the buffers.
Benjani, the third top scorer in the Premier League with 12 goals, has found himself unwanted by both clubs.
The Press Association claimed that City officials got cold feet on the 7.6 million pound transfer, after the player turned up several hours late having missed two flights to Manchester, and tried to abort the deal.
Portsmouth, however, claim the paperwork had all gone through and that the 29-year-old should be a City player.
They were hoping to use the fee to cover the cost of bringing in England striker Jermain Defoe from Tottenham, a deal they secured in the last minutes of the transfer window on Thursday.
The Premier League are investigating but a decision will now have to wait until Monday.
"If Benji is back we'll just have to see where we go with that one. He's a good player and we didn't want to lose him but we had to try to balance the books," said Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp.
City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson said that he is still hopeful the deal will be completed.
"I really don't know exactly what's happening. We will have to wait and see what's coming," said Eriksson.
"Of course I hope it will go through I would like to have him in the squad, yes."
Comments (0)