The former Portsmouth defender who'll be in action today when the Bundesliga returns

On Saturday, after more than a two-month hiatus, elite-level football will be back on our screens when the Bundesliga season recommences.

Pompey fans might be looking for an adopted team they can follow, with any Fratton Park connections an obvious starting point.

If that’s the case then Blues fans should no further than Hertha Berlin. The 13th-placed side travel to Hoffenheim and ex-Pompey loanee Karim Rekik will be involved for the visitors.

The defender had a loan spell at PO4 during when he arrived from Manchester City with team-mate Luca Scapuzzi in March 2012.

It was the second time boss Michael Appleton made use of his connections at the Etihad that season, with Abdul Razak featuring three times before the turn of the year.

Rekik was only 17 when he moved to the south coast but quickly established himself in Appleton's side.

After being an unused substitute in a 2-0 loss at Coventry, Rekik would start the final eight games – including the famous 2-2 draw at Southampton – although his efforts couldn’t help the Blues avoid relegation from the Championship.

Scapuzzi’s spell at PO4 was starkly contrasting, however. The winger was handed just two substitute appearances and was omitted for the final two match-day squads of the campaign.

Both returned to the Etihad at the end of the term, although they’d be left by the wayside as City started to become a European superpower having claimed their maiden Premier League title.

Nevertheless, the duo's careers have taken contrasting trajectories, with Rekik fulfilling the promise he displayed at Pompey.

After a brief spell at Blackburn in 2012-13, he spent the majority of the next two years at PSV Eindhoven, helping them clinch the Eredivisie crown in 2015.

He also won his maiden cap for the Netherlands in a 2-0 friendly defeat to France in March 2014.

Rekik finally left Manchester permanently the following summer, joining Ligue 1 outfit Marseille.

There he’d continue his encouraging progress and earned a move to Hertha Berlin for a reported fee of 2.5m euros in June 2017.

That’s where the 25-year-old has plied his trade since. He’s third captain at Olympiastadion, having scored once in 17 outings this term, and won a further three caps for his country.

Scapuzzi, however, finds himself in Serie D – the fourth tier of Italian football – representing Pro Sesto.

The wide man had loan spells at Varese Calcio and Robur Siena in his native Italy after leaving Pompey.

He departed City permanently in September 2014 to join Como and the 29-year-old has been at Pro Sesto since November 2016.

And let's not leave out Razak, who’s had a nomadic career. Having played for the likes of Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala, West Ham, Doncaster, the 27-year-old now finds himself at Swedish second-tier outfit Orgryte.

We won’t be seeing either Scapuzzi or Razak on our screens anytime soon.

But for members of the Fratton faithful looking for a Bundesliga side to have a vested interest in for the upcoming few weeks then Rekik's Hertha Berlin could be the one.