Sport

Southhampton want Fuller

Ricardo Fuller - file

JUST OVER TWO weeks before the English Premier League season kicks off on August 13, the status of Portsmouth's Jamaica international Ricardo Fuller is still unclear.

According to a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) report yesterday, Portsmouth have indicated to championship team Southampton that they will not part with the 25-year-old player for free.

Southampton are coached by Harry Redknapp, the man who brought Fuller to Portsmouth in August last year, before departing from the club after a falling out with chairman Milan Mandaric. With the departure of strikers Kevin Phillips to Aston Villa and the beanpole Peter Crouch who joined Liverpool for £7 million pounds recently, Redknapp is keen to bring in replacements. "I think their first response was they don't have any money and they don't want to pay any money," Mandaric was quoted as saying.

"We want to recoup money for him and they're not going to get him for free," he added.

Southampton first tested Porstmouth's willingness to retain Fuller in January during last season's transfer window when then club captain Nigel Quashie followed Redknapp.

Earlier this month, newly-promoted Premiership team Sunder-land pulled out of a move for Fuller at the last moment as he failed a medical due to an injured knee.

That same knee injury had threatened his original move to Portsmouth only for them to later work out a pay-as-you-play deal. His time at Portsmouth was not a productive one as he scored just one goal in 31 appearances. Fuller, who was also having a barren time for his country, appears to be regaining his goalscoring form with two goals in four games in the recently-concluded CONCACAF Gold Cup.