Source: Daily_Mail
James back in World Cup limbo as Stoke pull out of Pompey keeper deal
Portsmouth's financial crisis is in danger of jeopardising England's World Cup campaign after the club's crazy demands resulted in Stoke City pulling out of a loan deal for David James.[LNB]The England goalkeeper was desperate to move to Stoke for fear that Portsmouth cannot afford to play him for more than nine matches before the end of the season.[LNB]That would activate a clause in his contract guaranteeing him a new £2million, one-year contract, something the club would struggle with when they have already been late paying their players for the last three months, owe millions to agents and have been hit with a transfer embargo by the Premier League.[LNB] No deal: Stoke have confirmed they will not be signing David James[LNB]But James' hopes of a move to the Britannia Stadium all butdisappeared after Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie demanded theloan run until June 30 when Stoke wanted to sign the 39-year-old onlyuntil the Premier League season ends on May 9. [LNB]Setback: Stoke boss Pulis must now resolves his differences with Danish keeper Thomas Sorensen[LNB]The difference in cost to Stoke would have amounted to around £300,000.Both parties refused to budge, with Stoke deciding to pull the plugbefore Friday's noon deadline and leaving James facing the prospect ofmissing out on the World Cup.[LNB]That would be a disaster not just for James but also for Englandmanager Fabio Capello, who is still understood to consider thePortsmouth goalkeeper as his No 1 but will not take him to South Africaif he is not playing for his club.[LNB]It is also a major setback for Tony Pulis. The Stoke manager waskeen to select James ahead of Thomas Sorensen for Saturday's game against Liverpool but now he will have to resolve his differences with theDenmark goalkeeper and select him for the clash at the BritanniaStadium.[LNB] On Friday night James's representatives were still trying toresurrect the deal but without much hope after Stoke chief executiveTony Scholes made a point of announcing that the club had withdrawntheir interest.[LNB]'It's a mess,' said one insider.[LNB] Stoke City throw Portsmouth keeper David James World Cup lifelineGriffin joins Reading on loan as Stoke's forgotten man seeks first-team footballSTOKE CITY FC
