The stories started in the summer, when a move to Fulham looked on the cards. Although it was finally called off when the player failed a medical, he still seemed set to move on to either Villa or Middlesbrough. Comments made in the media about using the club as a "stepping stone" and "wanting to play Champions League football" certainly didn't endear him to the fans, especially with inconsistent performances on the pitch.
Since the appointment of Zajec however, he seems to have grown in stature. Now with Quashie out of the picture he's probably also one of the first names on the team sheet, something that seems to have buoyed Faye's confidence and desire to stay. Indeed, the ultimate test of his faith came when Birmingham put in a frankly insulting £1.5m bid yesterday, but the club has turned it down and the player himself had this to say; "Every week there's a new club I'm linked with - but I'm staying here. I'm getting tired of hearing all this talk and I'm clear in my mind now that I'm staying at Portsmouth."
Sounds like good positive talk to me, and things just got better when Peter Storrie gave an interview over the current transfer situation. Speaking about Graeme Souness announcing his interest in signing Yak as a replacement for Alan Shearer, he said, "We have not had a single offer in writing for Yakubu. That's the way it has always been. I'm sure Graeme Souness likes him but I bet a lot of other clubs like him. Most importantly, we like him." He then went on to mention the Faye situation, "As far as I'm concerned Amdy wants to stay", before rounding things off in no uncertain terms - "we haven't had any bids for anyone. No, no, no."
It's one thing keeping hold of the players we've got, but it's another altogether bringing in the necessary talent we need just to give us a bit of a boost - things seem to have fallen a bit flat around the club lately. The rumours about Kranjcar and Basinas rumble on, whilst other sources suggest that another Panathinaikos player, Sotirios Kyrgiakos (what do you mean, who?), could be set for a move.