The farce that is Benjani’s transfer from Portsmouth to Man City continues; firstly there were doubts that the requisite forms had been submitted by Man City which made Pompey sweat because they had already spent the Benjani moolah on Jermain Defoe. Next up were rumours that Benjani had a gammy knee and Man City big wigs wanted to pull the plug on the deal, despite manager Sven Goran Eriksson’s continued interest. And so both parties awaited the decision of the Premier League overlords to sort out this mess; the Prem’s answer? You should both come to a compromise lads…
The Times reports that:
“An intermediary is understood to be working on a “compromise” that would mean a renegotiation of the original £7.6 million deal, but while the Premier League expects such an agreement to be reached either today or tomorrow, differences of opinion behind the scenes at City mean that nothing can be guaranteed. A legal challenge is feasible if the club are forced into a deal with which they are not happy.
“Although the transfer window is closed, the Premier League would in theory be prepared to ratify a revised deal, given that all parties had previously reached an accord and submitted the relevant forms in time. Portsmouth are confident that the league will turn a blind eye to the missing signature, given that the deal appeared to have been concluded “in spirit”.
“If the deal is to be renegotiated, though, there are differences of opinion on how this will happen. One source indicated last night that the projected fee would be “comparable” with the £7.6 million valuation that the clubs agreed on Thursday, but with a larger portion of the fee contingent on appearances that he may make for City. However, another source suggested that the entire deal would have to be renegotiated, even raising the possibility that it be turned into a loan move if the Premier League would agree to this.”
So will Benjani ever be rescued from his limbo?…