THE RETURN OF THE KING?

The departure of Robert Prosinecki was a sad day for the progression of Portsmouth Football Club, after starring in his one season at Fratton Park, the Croat was lured by one final pay day to the tune of £50,000 a week - a decision that he seems to have completely performed a u-turn on: Prosinecki told Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List that he wanted to keep his family in Europe. He said that ‘Living in Japan is another type of life. It's not a question of the money, I just like Europe more. I'm 33 years old and I don't want to change my life around. I have a young family.'

Milan Mandaric always made it clear that Prosinecki would be welcomed back to the club with open arms, offering him an improved deal of £20,000 a week. It does now seem likely that the world class talent looks set to ply his trade in the World Cup as a Pompey player. He went onto say that "There is a big possibility that I may stay at Portsmouth because I felt very good there. The Portsmouth supporters were with me and liked me very much. Portsmouth is a good place to play. My relationship with Milan Mandaric is also very good. Since the end of the season I haven't broken any relations with him. I've now called off the transfer to Japan and that makes it a much bigger possibility that I will come back."

Due to the fact that the official site didn't receive this news first, they predictably were quick to deny the story - even pedantically pointing to a 'rule' that could be easily overcome with an appeal to the FA. The OS said that: "Reports assume Pompey's desire to bring back the Croatian (which have neither been confirmed or denied), but when a contract has been cancelled for the purpose of a player joining another club the player will commonly be refused permission to rejoin the departed club within 12 months." They of course rounded off by stating that any news would arrive first on our official site...

So far Fratton Faithful has stayed clear of reporting rumours this summer but two confirmed targets have been Kalla and now Ronnie Wallwork. The ex-United defender is currently speaking to us, Sunderland and West Brom and looks set to decide his future this week. It is likely that the majority of signings will arrive after the World Cup. Keep checking the site for the latest updates.