We've had a bid accepted for the 36 year-old stopper who asked Stuart Pearce for a transfer, stating that he wants to be closer to his fiance and his reasons for leaving have nothing to do with him having anything against Manchester City.
I think James would be a good signing for us. I ignore the cries of "calamity" as to be fair, despite his inadequacies at international level he keeps goal very well for his club and is pretty consistant. He is prone to the odd mistake of course but then which 'keeper isn't? I think the media label him unfairly and put him under the spotlight far too much. James also has a wealth of Premiership experience which he can pass onto the likes of Jamie Ashdown and Nick Jordan.
The rumours say that he is going to be offered a three year deal which would keep him at the club until he is 39. I know a few fans who are outraged that we should let such an old fart stay at our club! I say "don't worry". Look how well Nigel Martyn did for Everton in seasons gone by, by my reckoning he was 38 or 39 when the Toffees managed to finish in a Champions League place. If you need further convicing that age isn't a major factor at this level then look at our ex-keeper Shaka Hislop. He's 38 now yet had a great season for West Ham last campaign and when he was 36 he was producing save after save for us and is heralded as the safest pair of hands we have had since Alan Knight!
There is one person who might not be too happy about James' arrival and that will be Dean Kiely. Dean believes he should be our number one goalkeeper based on his performances last season and that he shouldn't be replaced by a "Hollywood goalkeeper". After last seasons heroics who can blame him for thinking that? The bottom line is that we need another goalkeeper with only Kiely our current recognised player in that position at the moment due to Ashdown's injury. Kiely might end up fighting for his place, but rest assured I'm sure David James won't be thinking he'll walk straight into the first team either. It could be an interesting battle for the number one shirt this season and there's nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition now is there?
The second player set to join Pompey is Kanu. Now I know Pompey fans are probably thinking "what a crap signing!" but think about it. We have three strikers, one of which is almost guaranteed to miss the start of the season whilst Benjani is still finding his fitness as well as recovering from injury. That leaves us with only Svetoslav Todorov as our only fit striker at the moment. Kanu, although not a world beater can still do a job at this level and he's a different type of player who can bring others into the game, he's free and unlikely to want too high a wage packet. Of course he isn't going to score 15 goals a season. We know that, Harry knows that and I still trust him to find us a player who can.
I think Kanu will be a useful squad player to bring off the bench occasionally and be there if we have an injury crisis up front like we currently do. Of course, he could completely flop but it's a risk well worth taking if you ask me.
Slowly but surely, our squad is starting to come together.