Pompey boss Harry Redknapp has agreed the sale of his £6m-rated Zimbabwe striker providing he can sign a replacement and City were today petitioning the Home Office to secure a work permit for Caicedo so that they can complete a £5m deal.
The Blues, short of firepower having sent Rolando Bianchi and Georgios Samaras out on loan, have made Caicedo their No 1 target before the transfer window closes at midnight.
City are believed to have edged ahead of Everton and Atletico Madrid in the race to land Caicedo, who has scored two goals in 15 international appearances and boasts 12 goals from 46 appearances with the Swiss club.
Benjani, formerly of Auxerre, has scored 19 times in 69 outings for Pompey. His dozen this season makes him their top scorer.
As strikers come in, so keeper Andreas Isaksson seems sure to go out to Galatasaray in Turkey.
The clubs are haggling over the £1.2m fee and if agreement cannot be reached the Turkish side are expected to try for a loan.
Blues' boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is expected to sign Sweden Under 21 starlet Abbas Hassan from Elfsborg as his replacement.
Meanwhile, City's midfielder Ousmane Dabo has re-joined his former club Lazio on a free transfer. Tweet
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what day is it?
Felipe Caicedo; 12 goals in 49 apperances in the Swiss league ?.
At last DABO has gone!!!!! At least we have now got rid of 3 bits of rubbish in the window
Before the Blue Meanies chirp up with "That's not a very good strike rate" remember that's exactly what you said about Santa Cruz when we were being linked with him.
anyone ever heard of him????
benjani would be an interesting one...can play right side aswell.
Benjani, 29, seems so have settled well in the PL this season and I see him as a short term addition. I'm suprised Portmouth let him go, even -as rumoured- they can get Defoe.
Caicedo is only 19 and one for the (near) future. Strong lad, already an international. He broke through last season with Basle, and now establishing himself as one of their stars. Not a profilic goalscorer (yet?).
Even if we get them in, I still think these are not the players Sven wanted in the 1st place. Although he tried, I think in the summer we see movement of more importance.
100% right The Goats Big Toe.
How many people on here were questioning the summer signings (just because they had never seen them?).
Lets judge the lad as and when he pulls on that blue shirt.
Half the time i wonder to myself is it the doom and gloom of the fans that is holding the club back? I have witnessed change of owners, change of managers (some world class), change of players, change of stadium yet we still strive for the elusive trophy - the only remaining constant is the negativity of the blue fan in and around the club!
Just think whats the worst that can happen - we'll finish in the top 10 something which we could've only dreamed about 12 months ago with our championship quality setup!
Neither of these 2 come with tags as big goalscorers,the type that will get 15-20 goals a season, although Benjani has scored 12 this season(mostly in the first half of the season and 3 of those were against Reading in that epic game) but the thing on his side is that he is playing regularly,will be match sharp and more importantly knows the Premier League. I don't know a lot about Caicedo other than the goal scoring stats, but if a number of top clubs have been watching him they must have seen something in him,and Sven wouldn't gamble £5 million on a player he hasn't had watched by the scouts/Tord Grip. Benjani,in my opinion, would be a "stop gap" signing to get us into the mix up for a place in Europe, with bigger fish lined up to join in summer,if we do qualify, it would see Samaras and Bianchi both leave and possibly Benjani as well,if not the following season. dissapointed we havn't got a right winger in but, having said that, Sven may suprise us all before midnight!
Lets hope we get Benjani he IS a proven goal scorer in the Premiership and is a Kenwyn Jones and Abybyeor type of player. Hope he plays Saturday.
Benjani is still the worst striker I've seen for an oppossing team at City. When Ben Thatcher knocked out Mendes. Benjani wasn't onside the whole evening he was awful. Willing to be proved wrong.
Please not Benjani. He has been very lucky this season. He is not natural finisher. He would be the definition of a panic buy. Surely Sven Wont do it! If He comes here he'll no better than Vassel. From being linked with Podolski to Benjani is just amazing. The gulf in class is vast! Wait for the smmer Sven please, Benjani is not the answer.
As for Felipe Caicedo, he looks a good signing. From what i have read, he made his international Debut at the AGE OF SIXTEEN. Even if it was for Ecuador, thats still impressive. Hes, big strong, and can dribble with the ball, with decent pace.
PleaseNotBenjaniSven!PleaseNotBenjaniSven!PleaseNotBenjaniSven!PleaseNotBenjaniSven!
Makes you wonder why Harry would let Benjani go?
Still plenty of time left, its not even dark yet..
My source has just seen kaka in the pound shop in wythenshawe..
I can tell you this Sven was on a train this morning to london. how do i know? I was sat behind him. He was on his own and i did ask if we are signing any players and he said we are hoping to do something this afternoon. Wondered why he was going o London on his own but did not have the bottle to ask!!
Just watched Caicedo on youtube. He looks like a battering ram like Kevin Davies as well as having good technique on the floor. Must spell the end for Miller if he comes. Evans is doing well on loan but I wonder if he may leave too.
thankyou eric.... if hes quick and strong i will be happy...
just hearing that mr dabo is leaving make my day! as bianchi he can now go on and be successfull in serie A...
how dare we try to spend millions when according to the prophets of doom (you know who you are) we dont have a ha'penny?
those of you who are thinking about staying in bed, going shoppin or going down pub...get off yer fat lazy butt and get to coms on saturday and make some bloody noise.
Having seen Benjani's hat-trick on MOTD last week I'd welcome him with open arms.
Pace, composure and precision. That's exactly what we want up front. Let's face it, we haven't got a striker on the books with any of these attributes.
If this is true let's hope Harry can wheel & deal a replacement so Sven can land the guy.
Blue Thai - Benjani is not a proven goalscorer. Hes had one of those season's where everything has come of for him. Why do you think Harry will let him go if he was a proven goalscorer? Simply because he's not.
Do you even watch the premiership. Benjani is not even close to the class of Adebayor nor is he as physical as Kenwyne Jones. If we get him it would be a mistake! Wait for the summer!
Blue Blood -
Just read your post after sending one of my own re: Benjani. Repeating my comments re: his hat-trick last Saturday, if that's not 'natural finishing' then I don't know what is !
proudtobeblue...
These 15-20 guaranteed goals a season are very hard to find. By being prolific in other countries doesn't necessarily mean they'll cut the mustard here. Sure some do exist out there somewhere, but if a player came with the guarantee of getting that amount of goals, every team would be after him!
And you also say you might want Benjani to leave at the end of the season!!! Let him sign on the dotted line first. He already has 12 goals. So if he netted, say, 8 for us, therefore ending the season on 20 you'd want him out?!!!!
I guess I was the first one in here who told you about the Caicedo transfer (a couple of days ago).
As Swiss citizen, I do obvisouly follow the Swiss League a bit.
So, Felipe Caicedo... What is this lad all about?
He's widely seen as one of the biggest striker assets right now in the world. He has attracted interest from a dozen (top) clubs from all over Europa.
He's goalscoring record (12 out of 45 games) looks not very impression. But remember, he is just 19yrs old, played in most of these 45 games as a sub, and, moreover, the Basle coach used him most of the time as a midfielder (HE is a striker!). Compare his situation to the one of Mr. Miller...
5mio transfer fee: pretty high, but you do not get bargains - especially if they are strikers - anymore in these days, I guess.
Overall: good prospect, very quick striker, with good technical skills, has to work on his workrate though. Furthermore, he will take his time (I'd say 2yrs) to settle in the EPL. Remember: He is just 19yrs (even though already an International)
Weasel (not McKay), Stockport
Are you forgetting we finished 8th twice since our return to the premier league.
Benjani will do for now as we need someone..
Albert - ok then, why were you on a train to London?