Beleaguered south coast club Portsmouth have signed Stoke’s Ibrahim Sonko on a season long loan deal. But the club who are under a transfer embargo will have to wait for the Football League to ratify the purchase. An appeal by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to prevent Pompey from coming out of administration has dealt fresh blow to the club’s chances of signing any players. Portsmouth won’t be able to add any new players unless they have 20 members in the squad. Currently, the club has only 18 registered players.
Sonko started his playing career with St.Etienne. Then he moved on to Grenoble before plying his trade in England with Brentford. He switched to Reading in 2004 where he made 136 appearances before moving on the Stoke City in mid 2008. With the emergence of Faye and Shawcross as first choice centre backs, Sonko received restricted playing time.
Pompey boss Steve Cotterill already has a very thin squad to work with. Papa Bouba Diop sleft the club to sign a two year deal with Greek powerhouse AEK Athens. Algerian left back Nadir Belhadi has also left the club joining Qatari outfit Al Sadd for £3.5m. South African skipper Aaron Mokoena has also hinted that he would like a move away from the club. A host of clubs from Turkey are interested in his services.
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