David James’s World Cup ambitions are in limbo in the wake of Portsmouth’s refusal to pick up the tab for the final seven weeks of his contract after the end of the season cost him a loan move to Stoke City.
The England goalkeeper returns to action today, as Portsmouth host Birmingham City, but his chances of playing regularly in the Barclays Premier League for the rest of the season to re-establish himself as Fabio Capello’s No 1 could be stymied by the financial crisis at Fratton Park.
Although Portsmouth understood that they would have to pay a proportion of James’s £45,000 weekly wage, the move collapsed yesterday when Stoke stuck to their guns and insisted that they should not be obliged to pay the player beyond the final Premier League game on May 9. But Portsmouth refused to accept they should then pay the rest of his contract until June 30, a period throughout which he hopes to be busy with England.
By looking to save themselves £300,000, Portsmouth could find themselves with an additional £2.5 million bill, on top of the wages they must pay the player for the next five months.
James, despite recovering from a minor calf injury, has not played since December 12, when he made his twelfth appearance in the Premier League this season. Portsmouth are contractually obliged to offer him a new 12-month contract once he reaches 23 league games, a heavy burden for a club faced with a financial crisis and the prospect of relegation.
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So James’s nightmare scenario would be for Portsmouth to keep him at Fratton Park throughout the transfer window and put him on the bench once he has played ten more games, leaving him out of the picture in the final six weeks of the season as the England manager selects his squad for South Africa. Capello has insisted that he will select only fit and in-form players for the World Cup finals.
With Joe Hart, in the opposing goal today, impressing with his performances for Birmingham this season, while on loan from Manchester City, James’s status as England’s undisputed No 1 is imperilled. Hart is due to start the game when Egypt visit Wembley for a friendly on March 3.
James has trained all this week and was eager to make the loan move to Stoke, where — had the deal been done by midday yesterday — he would have made his debut against Liverpool, one of his former clubs, today. Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, wanted James to train with his prospective new team-mates in the morning but refused to allow the situation to drag on and become a distraction.
Thomas Sorensen, who has been unsettled at the Britannia Stadium, will return today, instead, having recovered from a finger injury. James was left out of Portsmouth’s FA Cup games with Coventry City and would not be Cup-tied when Arsenal visit the Britannia a week tomorrow.