Harry Redknapp claims the search is "one of the hardest jobs in the world" and whilst he may be exaggerating just a tad, they are certainly the most difficult players to bring to a football club if you want quality.
Fratton Faithful has analysed the potential top targets and some outsiders that might be worth a look, with moves for the likes of Craig Bellamy and David Nugent not materialising.
THE TOP TARGETS
Fredi Kanoute
The Mali striker is supposed to be Harry Redknapp's top target and is reportedly priced at £7 million having scored 28 goals for title chasing Sevilla this season. The 29-year-old is interested in a reunion with Harry Redknapp, whom he worked with at West Ham. Despite an outstanding goal ratio in Spain this season (2nd only to Ruud van Nistelrooy), his record with Tottenham isn't so good with only 14 goals in 60 appearances (1 every 4.3 games) but with West Ham he has bagged 29 goals in 84 appearances (1 every 2.9 games), which is not such a bad record.
Shelling out £7 million for a striker who is almost 30 and only has an average strike rate in England would be a pretty big gamble, especially considering that he could also be away for the African Nations Cup in January. There's no doubt that Kanoute is a quality player, but in my opinion signing Kanoute would be no more of a gamble than signing a younger player who could take the league by storm, like David Nugent, for a similar fee.
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Jermain Defoe
Like Kanoute, Defoe was also with Harry Redknapp at West Ham and then made the move to Tottenham where he now struggles to get a game ahead of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov. If Spurs manage to get Darren Bent, then it'll look all the more likely that Defoe will want to leave as there's surely no way he'd want to be their 4th choice striker.
Should he be made available, then we should do everything in our power to sign him, especially if the asking price is less than £10 million. His scoring rate for Tottenham is almost one in every two games which is a great ratio for a player who is often on the substitute bench. He's only 24, has international experience and will continue to improve. Not only that but whenever Tottenham beat us he is usually on the scoresheet, so signing him would also take that little annoyance away from us. Defoe should be the number one target for us this Summer, it's just a case of whether he'd join us.
Yakubu
Harry has always been a big fan of the Nigerian and Pompey fans will know that he has pace, power, a goalscoring touch but also a knack for being a lazy git. The bottom line is that the Nigerian will guarantee you goals in the Premiership having netted 54 times in 4 seasons and when he's on form then he's nigh on unstoppable.
Would I have him back at Pompey? Not for the prices mentioned in the papers. They're quoting £12 million bids (although no official bid has been made according to Boro) or £8 million plus Gary O'Neil or Sean Davis. The Teesiders are reportedly not keen on Davis whilst Harry has said that O'Neil is going nowhere. I think £8 million for a 24-year-old who guarantees you more than 12 goals a season would be a very good price, despite the fact that he would also be off to Africa in January.
THE OUTSIDERS
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Robert Earnshaw
Now you may scoff at this suggestion, but I believe that the Welshman is good enough to score goals regularly in the Premiership and not only that, but he is a complete nuisance for defences to play against. For those of you thinking he's not good enough, he managed to score 12 goals for a poor West Bromwich Albion side in the Premiership and his goals-to-minutes ratio in the top flight is second to only Theirry Henry. At 26-years-old he still has plenty of football ahead of him and if we could sign him for around £4 million from Norwich, then he'd be well worth the gamble in my view.
Alan Smith
Unsure of his future at Manchester United, Smith could become available and has already been touted for a £6 million move by the press. Although Smith isn't the greatest scorer of goals, he makes up for it with his effort and the fact that he can also play in midfield should he be needed. Indeed, one of the reasons for his unimpressive scoring record at United is because they have played him in a more confined midfield role which is obviously going to restrict him. Smith has the ability to be a decent forward for us and if he's going for £6 million then we could certainly do a lot worse.
Djibril Cisse
If you can ignore the fact that Cisse has a reputation for being a complete prat and a violent so-and-so off the pitch, on the pitch the man could be a potent striker and other Pompey fans seem to agree. Harry likes a striker with pace and Cisse has plenty to burn and if the Pompey gaffer can sort out his attitude, he could be lethal considering his ability on the ball when he puts his mind to it. The French international is only 25 but the questions would be could we afford him and would he even consider playing at Fratton Park for us?
SCRAPING THE BARREL
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Marlon Harewood
The press continually link us to the West Ham man who has been allowed to leave the club. Please Harry, if you're reading this.... don't do it! Harewood has had one good season in the Premiership but looked like a lazy donkey this season, missing many good chances. I'm convinced that Harewood was a one-season-wonder along with many other Pompey fans and although I acknowledge that even we get it wrong sometimes (Kanu, anybody?) I believe that the Championship is more Marlon's level.
Diomansy Kamara
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"Couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo" is the phrase you'd associate with Joey Kamara. Harry likes him but having seen him play for West Brom a few times last season he still suffers from the syndrome where he does all the hard work only to miss a sitter. At Premiership level he won't be given the time or space to score the 21 goals he did in the Championship and for the money the Baggies are asking for him.... Fulham are welcome to him.
Freddy Eastwood
I'm not saying that Eastwood is not a good player, because he does have ability but having seen him in action I didn't see much to get over-excited about apart from the free kick he scored against Manchester United. 23 goals in a struggling side might be good but I'm not convinced he's good enough for the top flight and at 23-years-old he isn't as young as some people believe. I think he'll leave Southend, but we should set our sights higher.