Portsmouth's attempts to bring Amr Zaki back to England have failed after a bid was rejected by his club, Zamalek. The Egypt striker made a huge impact during the early part of last season playing on loan at Wigan, where he scored 10 goals, before injuries and a lack of discipline led to a return to his homeland. The south coast club, currently bottom of the Premier League table after four defeats in as many games, were keen to bring in Zaki, and, according to his agent, offered three different alternatives to a possible deal. "Portsmouth have made an official bid for Zaki, but Zamalek said they wanted to keep him and rejected any possibility of his exit," Nader Shawki told www.filgoal.com. "Portsmouth offered three different solutions for Zamalek to get Zaki. "They offered £3million (Dh17.9m) or £2.5m plus 50 per cent of the next sale to buy him permanently. They also made a £500,000 loan offer, but Zamalek aren't ready to sell." According to Shawki, Zamalek convinced the 26-year-old to stay and new chairman Mamdouh Abbas has high ambitions for the new season. Portsmouth will be hoping to tie up more deals before the 5pm (GMT) deadline on what is again likely to be a hectic final day of the transfer window in England. Following the announcement of Sulaiman al Fahim's takeover, Pompey have moved quickly to bolster Paul Hart's squad - with Benfica this morning confirming midfielder Hassan Yebda will spend the rest of this season on loan at Fratton Park and Aston Villa defender Nicky Shorey is expected to follow later. However, the futures of both Pompey playmaker Niko Kranjcar and England goalkeeper David James remain the subject of speculation, with Harry Redknapp said to be ready to take the pair to Tottenham. Manchester City have been the summer's biggest spenders so far ? and could be lining up a move for Spurs' out-of-favour midfielder David Bentley, who worked with Mark Hughes at Blackburn. Portsmouth have already signed Tommy Smith, Michael Brown, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Aruna Dindane and Jamie O'Hara all in the last week. However, they sold captain Sylvain Distin to Everton for £5.3m, but look set to land defender Tal Ben Haim from Manchester City. Today, they are being linked with a return for striker Benjani, currently at Manchester City, ex-Marseille winger Boudewijn Zenden and Sunderland's Nyron Nosworthy. In deals completed yesterday, Stoke signed Uruguay midfielder Diego Arismendi from Club Nacional in a deal which could rise to £4.84million. Sunderland announced they completed the big-money signing of defender Michael Turner from Hull, on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Wolves confirmed the signing of Austria striker Stefan Maierhofer from Rapid Vienna and Ecuador midfielder Segundo Castillo on a season-long loan from Red Star Belgrade. West Ham signed defender Manuel da Costa from Fiorentina, and allowed forward Savio Nsereko to move in the opposite direction. The Hammers are aware of interest from the Italian club for Matthew Upson, but would only sell for a suitable offer or to a Champions League team. They are waiting for bids from Aston Villa or Everton for James Collins, with any funds from the defender's transfer helping them sign another striker. Bordeaux forward Marouane Chamakh is still a possibility.
* PA Sport
