Discussing the ongoing saga of Sulaiman al-Fahim's mooted takeover of Portsmouth, the club's chief executive, Peter Storrie, told me Al-Fahim is not connected to the Abu Dhabi royal family, whose scion, Sheikh Mansour, owns Manchester City.
"Sulaiman told me that if there are two games he wants us to win, it's the ones against City," Storrie said.
"Why was that?" I asked.
"Because he wants us to be number one in the Middle East."
I know you have to accept reality; our great football clubs are owned by rich men from here and overseas, with many registered in tax havens around the world. But still, it does feel bizarre, to think of Pompey and Manchester City, two traditional, working class clubs, never knowingly overburdened with success, vying for the status of top club in the Gulf.
