Youth is goal for Pompey

The new owner Sulaiman al Fahim said the Premier League club's infrastructure would be the main focus of spending this season.

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Portsmouth may have to wait until next summer to splash out on new players after their new owner Sulaiman al Fahim said the Premier League club's infrastructure would be the main focus of spending this season. "You have to do things at their own speed and at the moment the priority for Portsmouth is to create a good infrastructure so that the club can have a serious face in the future," said the UAE investor, who completed his purchase of the club last month.

With Portsmouth languishing at the foot of the table, al Fahim wants the club to focus on developing home-grown talent, imitating the youth development programme run by Arsenal. Meanwhile, Sol Campbell's venture into fourth division English football with Notts County came to an abrupt end yesterday as the League Two club agreed to end the defender's contract after just one match. Campbell, 35, made his only appearance for the club in their 2-1 defeat by Morecambe on Saturday.

"While we are disappointed that Sol felt that he could not adjust to the long term nature of the project under way at Notts County, we obviously wish him the best with the remainder of his career and hope that he is able to obtain a place where he can play at international level ahead of the 2010 World Cup," said County's executive chairman Peter Trembling. Elsewherem Blackburn Rovers striker El-Hadji Diouf has denied that he racially insulted a ball boy, aged 14, during Sunday's 3-0 loss at Everton. Merseyside Police are investigating a complaint made against Diouf about comments that he allegedly made to the boy on the touchline. Diouf said: "To say that I uttered racist words towards a child is nonsense."

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