Mandaric claims Gunners looked at Carrick

Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric has claimed Premiership champions Arsenal have attempted to hijack his club’s attempts to sign Michael Carrick.

Pompey had a club record £2.5m (€3.75m) bid for the West Ham midfielder rejected earlier this week but Mandaric yesterday made an improved offer.

Mandaric said afterwards that he was confident the deal would go through and now claims the club had been given the go ahead to speak to the player.

Crystal Palace and Everton have also expressed their interest but Mandaric fears the Gunners may have stepped in with a better offer.

Mandaric told Sky Sports News: “I am unhappy with the situation. We have worked hard so don’t want anything to spoil the deal.

“He (Michael) knows Harry (Redknapp) and what kind of football he plays. That is one of the reasons he wanted to come to us.

“We are still expecting Michael to come down. We expect them (West Ham) to honour the agreement we have with them.”

The Hammers have been resigned to selling 23-year-old Carrick since their failure to win promotion back to the Premiership last season.

Manager Alan Pardew has suggested that a deal is imminent by indicating that he is not in his plans for tomorrow’s Coca-Cola Championship opener against Leicester.

Pompey are also hoping to strengthen their squad by bringing in Senegal international midfielder Aliou Cisse from Birmingham.

Mandaric added: “I think that is okay. I don’t see any problems. We have agreed terms and we expect to announce something today.”