Last Updated: Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:16
Pompey have approached Croatian coach Slaven Bilic to be the new boss and his agent has confirmed he would be keen on the job.
The ex-West Ham and Everton defender, who oversaw two victories over England as he guided Croatia to Euro 2008, has emerged as the new favourite to succeed Paul Hart after his agent revealed the Blues have been in touch.
Representative Rudi Vata also confirmed that Bilic would be interested to hear Sulaiman Al Fahim's ambitious plans for the future at Fratton Park.
Vata told The News: "Slaven is open to offers and there is interest from Portsmouth.
"There are different clubs who want him but he is very interested.
"Portsmouth have tried to get in touch, but there is no concrete offer at this stage.
"But the idea of working with and building the club would excite him.
"Slaven is hungry for the right club with the right ambition because he is a hungry manager. He is a person who sets high goals and wants to work hard to achieve them.
"There are going to be special things from him in the future."
Aged 40, Bilic is one of the most in-demand young coaches in the game but is also known to be on relatively low wages from the Croatian federation.
Vata's former club Celtic, plus clubs in Germany and England are interested but Pompey's new owners have the edge in terms of financial clout.
Bilic is under contract with Croatia, who drew 2-2 with Ukraine in Zagreb on Saturday, until next year but knows that the summer is his opportunity to walk away without acrimony from the national team job.
"Slaven still has a contract but he has a fantastic relationship with everyone at Croatia," continued Vata.
"I'm sure that means the situation is very possible to move to the right club."