On this day: Portsmouth chief slams Lassana Diarra rumours and tells fans not to be alarmed by reports of financial uncertainty

And he struck out at the scare-mongers threatening to undermine the Blues’ season by telling fans they had nothing to worry about regarding club finances.

Reports at the time claimed Diarra had a clause in his contract to be sold for £10m.

That guaranteed Pompey would have been left short-changed for undoubtedly their most bankable asset.

It was a rumour vehemently denied by Storrie, who had been increasingly infuriated by a string of stories aimed at disrupting the Blues.

It led to Pompey’s executive chairman calling on fans to ignore the mischief-making.

Speaking to The News at the time, Storrie said: ‘There is no clause in his contract whatsoever – it is absolute rubbish.

‘Let’s get this straight, we are not looking to sell Diarra. Also, if someone came in and wanted him they would have to pay an awful lot of money, credit crunch or no credit crunch. ‘He’s is a fantastic football player and I think will go on to be one of the best midfield players there is in the world.

‘If they come here and offer us Mickey Mouse money – not a chance.

‘I have to say to the supporters, please don’t listen to the rubbish and the nonsense.

‘There are stories every day knocking Pompey and I think the vast majority of fans are as bored of it as we are to be honest.’

The spotlight had refused to move away from the Blues ever since the shock departure of Harry Redknapp for Spurs three weeks previous.

Claims over the club’s ownership and the futures of star players such as Diarra and Jermain Defoe has created uncertainty among many supporters.

But Storrie reiterated Pompey supporters have nothing to be alarmed about.

He added: ‘We’re bored of all this discussion of finance, we’re bored of all this discussion about whether Sacha (Gaydamak) owns the club or doesn’t.

‘It really has got to a point where there is no point us talking about it anymore – and I hope our fans understand why.

‘Why should we keep answering these every single day? Every day there is some other rubbish about bids put in and this player going. It’s complete and utter nonsense.

'We are fine, we are very, very happy with our club at the moment.

‘If things are going to change, then we will tell everybody.

‘At this moment in time, it’s work as normal. It’s only because we are successful that this is going on.

‘We’ve got a good set-up here, we’ve got good players and there’s jealousy coming in.'

Pompey sold Diarra to Real Madrid for a reported 20m euros in December 2008.

Meanwhile, in July 2009, Gaydamak agreed to sell Pompey to Sulaiman Al Fahim in principle, stepping down from the board.

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