Utaka in line for Premier League return
John Utaka’s hopes
of returning to the Premier League may come to pass before the end of
the transfer window as his English Championship side Portsmouth are
hopeful of offloading him before then.
The Nigerian
forward is one of the top earners at Portsmouth, who after going into
an administration-induced relegation from the Premier League, have to
sell some of their players to offset their £130 million debt.
Portsmouth received
around £5m from Genoa for Ghanaian forward Kevin-Prince Boateng, while
veteran English goalkeeper David James and Senegalese midfielder Pape
Bouba Diop have also left. But the cash-strapped club still need to
further slash their wage-bill and are eager to sell Utaka as they look
to raise the £4million needed to reach their £12m target from summer
player sales.
According to
reports in the English tabloid The News, the side’s administrator
Andrew Andronikou is confident Utaka will be a Premier League player
again by the end of the month.
Andronikou
confirmed that although no firm offer has been tabled yet, there have
been plenty of enquiries about the 28-year-old who arrived at
Portsmouth three years ago from French side Rennes.
Eager to sell
“We want to sell Utaka and he has also made himself clear he wants to leave,” Andronikou told The News.
“There have been a
number of clubs who have been taking interest, which is obviously
encouraging,” added the Pompey boss who went ahead to suggest that the
club might even accept a much lower bid for the player who cost them
£7million when he arrived in 2007.
“We have put a price tag on him – but the closer we get to the transfer window closing, it will be coming down.
“However, I will be very surprised if he is still at the club after the transfer window.
“I’m very confident
he will go, most likely to the Premier League. There are one or two
Premier League clubs which feel he could do a job.
“Others include one in Scotland, three in France and a long time ago there was one in Saudi Arabia.
“But I think he will end up in the Premier League.”
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