Chief executive Peter Storrie insists the Blues remain in the hunt for the England striker, despite having a £9m bid turned down last week.

Spurs and Manchester City have since emerged as strong contenders to end his unhappy spell at Liverpool.

Juande Ramos' side in particular are thought to be willing to use Robbie Keane as bait to land him.

Yet Crouch remains Harry Redknapp's prime target this summer – and they are determined not to let him slip away.

Pompey's boss is desperate to unite the former Southampton striker with Jermain Defoe as he strengthens for next season's European adventure.

And Storrie has vowed to stay in the race to land the 27-year-old.

He said: 'Harry has made it clear he wants Peter Crouch. He's the sort of quality we want to add to the team.

'We have made a fair bid for him and that was turned down but we are still interested.

'It's now the case that we have made known our position and Liverpool have made know theirs – we will see what happens after that.

'This is not the end of it.

'As in normal transfer negotiations there is still more talking to be done. That's how it works.

'We are not going to be giving up. Harry sees him as an important player and we will try to bring him to Fratton Park.

'At the moment both myself and Harry are away so there is nothing happening, we will see what the situation is after this week.

'But not-hing will be happening with Peter's future in the meantime, either. It's a quiet time for transfers.

'We are still interested, he's a quality player.'

Crouch netted 19 goals in 39 games during his previous spell at Fratton Park before a £5m switch to Aston Villa in March 2002.