Portsmouth boss Tony Adams has ruled out a move for Real Madrid forward Javier Saviola.
Fratton Park chief eager for Premier League experience
Portsmouth boss Tony Adams has ruled out a move for Javier Saviola because he wants to sign players with Premier League experience and fitness.
Executive chairman Peter Storrie was quoted on Thursday morning saying that Pompey were in talks with the Real Madrid forward as they look for firepower to fight off the threat of relegation.
Adams, though, insists he is not interested in Saviola - who has struggled for first-team football at the Bernabeu - and is adamant he has never shown a genuine desire to bring the 27-year-old to England because he wants players who can make an immediate impact.
"You need people that know the league and can come in and hit the ground running," Adams, who succeeded Harry Redknapp in October, told
Sky Sports News.
Requirements
"They take time, even very good players can take six months to a year to get to know the pace of the Premier League.
"So when I'm doing medicals and I am looking for players, I am looking for a certain fitness level."
And when it was suggested that Saviola did not meet those requirements, Adams added: "That is maybe why I am not taking him.
"I have not pursued it at all. I have looked at more than 150 players in the last two-and-a-half months since I have been in the job.
Important
"Recruitment is important. The press maybe pick up on names and agents are out there supplying newspapers with names."
Adams has reiterated plans to add to his striking quartet of Peter Crouch, Kanu, David Nugent and John Utaka before the transfer window closes on 2nd February, but he confesses he is working within a budget.
"I would like to do some more," he added.
"I have got four strikers at the club. If I can find better than those four I will bring them into the club at the budget I have got."
