Ben Sahar would be joining Barclays Premier League Club Portsmouth on a 6 month loan deal starting today. This deal would keep him at Portsmouth till January after which Chelsea will assess his situation and take further decision about his future. Portsmouth were not the only club after the young Israeli and it was a protracted saga that ultimately culminated in a loan move to Pompey today.
NEC Nijmegen who play in the Dutch Erdivisie were the favourites to land him for much of the last month. The initial contact came through Frank Arnesen who was known to technical director of NEC Carlos Aalbers and at that time NEC looked to be in the driving seat. Sahar also went on a two day trip to Nijmegen to assess the facilities and meet their manager Mario Been. The manager was very keen on signing the Chelsea starlet because their two main strikers of earlier campaign Kevin Bobson and Jermain Lens had returned back to their parent clubs as they were on loan. Sahar was impressed with what NEC had to offer and expressed his interest in joining the club next season. All what remained was an agreement between the two clubs and finalizing the financial details of the deal with the player.
Pompey were interested in Sahar from the start but their interest had taken a backseat when negotiations with NEC were ongoing. Pompey had offered him more money than what he could have got at NEC but Sahar was more inclined towards joining NEC at that time. One of the prime reasons was because of Mario Been, the NEC manager, who had promised him a place in the starting XI. Sahar was clearly keeping both his options open. About ten days back his deal with NEC broke down because the two clubs could not settle on taxation issues which Sahar didn’t liked and canceled his flight to the training camp. With this move breaking down, Portsmouth was the most viable option remaining. Sahar agreed in principle to sign for them last week after Harry had promised him game time. Portsmouth were interested in taking him on a year long deal but Sahar opted for a 6 months to first see how he settles in there. The loan spells at QPR and Sheffield Wednesday had certainly made him more mature. It was the right decision in my opinion as the main emphasis of a loan deal is the development of the player. Warming the bench serves no purpose.
Harry has promised him game time but I doubt he would be able to get much especially with the players like Defoe, Kanu and Utaka already in their ranks. Pompey are also expected to be in the market for another striker possibly Crouch so that would push him further down the pecking order. His involvement might also get limited because of the system preferred by Harry. Last season it was more of a one man on top which might be the case this year too though we can’t say for sure. Nugent was signed last season for 5 million but he hardly got any chances and is likely to leave this summer so Sahar may end up the same way. He is only on loan and I doubt any clauses have been put which would force Harry to start him in every match as Pompey are a Premier League side. NEC would have been a good move for him especially as the Dutch league is more technical and he would have added more to his game there. Moreover the pressure and media attention there is considerably less compared to England so the focus is more on football.
It’s hard to predict what the future holds and we can only hope that he would get chances there to prove himself. The 7 subs rule will obviously help his case and in Harry he has a manager who can bring the best out of young players. Pompey would be playing in Europe this season and some European exposure would do him no harm.
This is what he had to say on signing for Portsmouth (Excerpts taken from Portsmouth Official Site).
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about Harry Redknapp, the club and the staff and they obviously had a very good season, so I’m happy to be here.
“I know that I’m young and I still need to develop, to get experience and to learn from big players, like there are here.
“I’m ready for the challenge of being part of such a big club like Portsmouth.
“They are now in Europe and that will be a big challenge as well.
“But I came here to be part of a team and to play, so hopefully I can do well. I’m just waiting for the new season to start.”
“My goal is to play and I’m striker, so of course I want to score a few goals for Portsmouth – that’s why I’m here.
“It’s a new beginning and I’m ready for it.”
Good Luck Ben! I will be keeping an eye on Pompey next season for sure. Looking forward to seeing you giving a torrid time to the likes of Ferdinands and Carraghers. 
Credits: dannyb1 of CFCnet for translating some of the articles in the Israeli media who were the first to get onto any news related to Sahar.
