Portsmouth won't be going toe-to-toe with Tyson Fury as Morecambe takeover update emerges

That’s because the current WBC heavyweight champion looks set to be beaten by a 20-year-old in the battle to become Morecambe’s next owner.

Sarbjot Johal – chairman of private equity firm Sarb Capital, as well as the founder of non-alcoholic drinks company Vitanic Limited – is in the advanced stages of a takeover at the Mazuma Stadium.

The deal is subject to him passing the EFL’s owners and directors’ test – which, if he’s successful, would make Johal the youngest football club owner in the country.

His opponent, Fury, revealed he was considering buying the League One outfit back in November.

The 34-year-old, who lives in the area, sponsors the team shorts and apparently owns the club’s training facilities, told talkSport: ‘I’m thinking about buying Morecambe Football Club, they’re in League One at the moment.

‘So I was thinking I would invest X amount of millions in them, basically throw it at them and keep them going up.’

He continued, after being asked to confirm the news: ‘I’ve been offered to buy Morecambe Football Club, I own all the training facilities anyway and the training gym, so you know, who knows.

‘You could be looking at a football club owner!’

That prospect now looks over as Johal, who already has equity in the club, awaits EFL approval.

So with Fury now seemingly out of the picture, Pompey will instead have to settle for the odd below-the-belt comment from Shrimps boss Derek Adams before and after any scheduled fixtures.

The Scot and former Plymouth manager has never been shy in having a go at the Blues.

It stems from his mutual dislike of former Fratton Park boss Paul Cook, who he often went head-to-head with when Pompey and the Pilgrims met.

The Blues drew 1-1 with 21st-placed Morecambe at the Mazuma Stadium back in November – a game which Adams claimed the Shrimps should have ‘won by a landslide’.

The two teams are due to play the reverse fixture at Fratton Park on Monday, April 10.