Crouch not going/Kanu staying and Exeter awaits

If 'reports' are true it appears as if Peter Crouch is willing to waste a years worth of talent by sitting on the Liverpool bench before leaving on a free next summer...

The News is quoting that world famous 'a source close to' as saying: 'Peter's been treated appallingly by Benitez.

'The best option now is to see out his last year at Liverpool and go for nothing.'

The £15m price put on the head of Crouch is a ridiculous amount, even more so with him being in the final year of his contract and I do not care who you are you will not pay that for the fella...

To be honest I still feel that a deal will be negotiated and he will leave Liverpool in the summer for something between £7m and £10m - which is more than enough. I also still feel that this move will see him return to Pompey, something that I make no secret as being something that I would love to see happen.

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So, although I do not believe it, we might miss out on 'the English Kanu' in Peter Crouch but 'King' Kanu is 'close to signing his new contract' according to his agent Samuel Okoronkwo: 'as we know, this is the time of year when we sit down and talk with Peter Storrie.

'We are trying to work something out and we have had progress.'

How hard can this 'negotiating of a new deal' be, is it really that hard to sort out?

- He wanted a new deal...
- We said we would give him a new deal...
- Pompey claim a new deal has been offered...
- He says he does not want any more money...
- If we are offering a fair deal why can it not just be signed?

Surely he cannot be stalling in the hope of trying to get out of pre season for a third year running!

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And finally to wrap this little lot up Exeter have confirmed that Pompey will be returning to the Westcountry for a pre-season friendly at St James Park in July, on Wednesday 16th I believe.

This is something that they are pretty pleased about - as am I to be honest! - with their sporting director Julian Tagg telling a local paper: 'I don't know how our commercial department is going to market it, but calling it the 'Cup Winners' Cup' sounds good to me. It will be their first outing having won the FA Cup and obviously we have had our own silverware this season.

'They were very, very positive when we approached them. We know Harry Redknapp has been down here on a number of occasions and he likes the area.

'I don't know if they will bring the cup with them, but we shall certainly be asking them to.'

We have a habit of going on a Westcountry tour, which will do me nicely as this will be a rare occasion where I can go to a game and be home in no time at all - no need to spend half the day travelling for this one, woo hoo! A rarity with the amount of miles I will clock up next season...

There is also talk that we will be playing Torquay, which I have not seen confirmed, it was only something I read in a local paper a few weeks back - but it would seem to make sense if we are also Exeter.

PLAY UP POMPEY!