Benjani deal in jeopardy

Portsmouth have contacted the Premier league to see whether the sale of Benjani to Man City can go ahead.

Pompey claim after signing Defoe they had submitted the relevant forms relating to the sale of Benjani.

But City say the transfer collapsed because the Zimbabwean arrived too late in Manchester to complete the deal before the midnight deadline.

The Premier League is examining the timeline of the relevant paperwork.

Harry Redknapp claims that Man City had confirmed the transfer 5 minutes before the midnight deadline.

"That's when Peter Storrie (Portsmouth chief executive) gave the go-ahead for our forms (to register Defoe) to go through," said Redknapp.

"Once their forms were sent, we had to get ours off very quickly. I thought we were struggling for time."

If the deal falls through it would leave Portsmouth short of cash. They were banking on the Benjani sale to help subsidise the purchase of Defoe.