‘Sacha’ wants Pompey to rival big boys

PORTSMOUTH’S new investor Alexandre Gaydamak has dreams of making Portsmouth one of the biggest clubs in the country.

Close associates of the 29-year-old multi-millionaire - known as Sacha to his friends - revealed he secretly watched Portsmouth’s 1-1 draw against West Ham at Fratton Park on St Stephen’s Day and was also given a guided tour of the area by chief executive, Peter Storrie.

“Sacha regards the club as a sleeping giant with lots of potential on and off the pitch,” said an associate.

Gaydamak has told the club he plans to work closely with chairman Milan Mandaric and play a ‘very active’ role in the club, attending as many games as possible and taking a key part in the big club decisions.

Portsmouth captain Dejan Stefanovic hopes Gaydamak can do for Pompey what Roman Abramovich has done for Chelsea.

Gaydamak, the son of Russian billionaire, is poised to become the club’s joint owner with Mandaric, who will receive £15million for a 50% stake.

Although estimates have varied greatly in relation to the size of any potential investment, it appears certain manager Harry Redknapp is to be given a sizeable kitty to spend in the current transfer window.

Stefanovic believes at least a couple of new faces would make all the difference to Pompey’s survival chances, and then in the summer they could build as Chelsea have done under Abramovich.

“If we are to survive in the Premiership we need to strengthen the squad,” Stefanovic said.

“That’s obviously a job for Harry to sort out, and hopefully he can bring a couple of quality players to the club.

“If he has money to spend then he will be able to do that, and that will hopefully help us push up the table and survive this season.

“We have seen what has happened at Chelsea with Abramovich who has spent lots of money on players.

“With some good signings in this transfer window, we can stay up and then begin from there.”

Remarkably, Stefanovic remains the club’s record buy at £1.8million, and that was back in July 2003.

That underlines just how well Portsmouth have done over the years to survive on a shoestring budget, but that could be about to change.

Redknapp has reportedly made a £4.1million bid for Auxerre forward Mwaruwari Benjani - among others - and it would appear heady days are on the horizon.

“It’s not about spending money just to break records,” said Stefanovic, who maintains Mandaric has said nothing to the players about Gaydamak.

“For me it’s more important to bring quality players into the team because that is what we need to keep us in the Premiership.”

Regardless of what transpires this month in terms of new signings and, despite the lack of quality, Stefanovic is adamant those players currently at Fratton Park are not losing heart.

“With a couple of wins we can move up the table because there are plenty of other teams still down there fighting,” added Stefanovic.

“We know that whatever happens, right to the end of the season it’s going to be very difficult, and every match is going to be tough.

“After the FA Cup we’ve got Everton at home, and that is a crucial, but very winnable game for us.

“As a squad we remain confident. If we’re not confident then there would be no point in us playing football.

“We just have to keep going, not give up and hopefully we will be okay.”