Benjani Receives Work Permit As City Move Closes In - Spurs' Defoe Likely To Join Portsmouth

Portsmouth striker Benjani Mwaruwari has been awarded a work-permit and is currently undergoing a medical at Manchester City ahead of a transfer move to Eastlands on Thursday.

City boss Sven Goran Eriksson has been searching for a striker throughout the January transfer window, after releasing Rolando Bianchi on-loan to Lazio and Georgios Samaras to Celtic and it appears that the Swede is focused on landing Portsmouth's top-scorer this season.

On Wednesday Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp ruled out the sale of any strikers, claiming he couldn't afford to lose any attacking players, with two of their strikers, Kanu and John Utaka away on international duty in the African Cup of Nations, with England international David Nugent sidelined by injury, leaving Pompey’s only other fit striker being Milan Baros who recently joined them on-loan.

It now looks likely that Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermain Defoe is set for a move to the South Coast, with Redknapp willing to do a deal for the Spurs forward.

News that Zimbabwean striker Benjani has applied for another work-permit, a necessary move for Benjani to switch clubs, and that he is currently having a medical at City adds credence to the reports that Tottenham’s Jermain Defoe will be joining Harry Redknapp's side later today, with the transfer window closing in less than nine hours.