Pompey issue cash pledge
17 May 2007 - 15:07:21
Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie has rejected claims that the club's proposed new £600million stadium will leave Harry Redknapp short of summer transfer funds.
Last month Pompey unveiled plans to build a new 36,000-capacity stadium scheduled for completion in 2011, but Storrie insists that won't have any bearing on how much money Redknapp is allowed to invest during the close season.
"The stadium is completely stand-alone from money to spend on transfers," he told the Portsmouth News.
"Player offers are completely separate. There's money to spend within reason, but it's not an open purse and we'll be looking at targets carefully."
Meanwhile, Storrie has hit out at claims that the club relies too much on free transfers.
"There's no such thing as a free transfer, it's a myth," he said.
"It annoys me because it's totally wrong. It's mentioned only by ill-informed people who seem to want to talk only about transfer fees.
"You can pay £5million for a player and then give him a £1million wage over three years. Or you can get somebody out of contract and give him £3million a year over three years. There's no difference.
"We've made that call before. If the right player comes along on a so-called free the wages normally absorb it - it doesn't mean we're spending less."
Meanwhile, Pompey continue to be linked with a swoop on Udinese for Ghana international midfielder Sulley Muntari.