Paul Hart, officially the club's director of youth operations, has been overseeing the start of pre-season training, carrying on at the helm after he and Brian Kidd took charge of the first team over the closing months of the last campaign following Tony Adams' dismissal.

It is believed once the due diligence process of Al Fahim's takeover has been completed, expected to be within the next fortnight, then the new owners will look to install a permanent manager.

That could well come in time for the start of Pompey's pre-season friendly schedule, which begins at local neighbours Havant and Waterlooville on July 21, before a short trip to Portugal with games against Guimaraes and Benfica ahead of a final warm-up when Scottish champions Rangers come to Fratton Park on August 8.

A whole host of names have been linked with the Pompey vacancy - including Italian Roberto Mancini, Vahid Halilhodzic, the Bosnian currently in charge of the Ivory Coast national team, as well as Sven-Goran Eriksson, Alan Curbishley, Croatia manager Slaven Bilic and former Chelsea boss Avram Grant, who used to be Pompey's technical director.

With managerial matters to resolve, Portsmouth must also decide whether to offer new deals to out-of-contract duo Sol Campbell and Kanu.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, meanwhile, is said to be considering a raid on his old club for England striker Peter Crouch, while Aston Villa are reported keen on defender Sylvain Distin.

Pompey, though, are keen to bolster their squad, and have been linked with both former striker Benjani and River Plate's Columbia international Radamel Falcao.