Portsmouth chasing Greece's Basinas

Angelos Basinas, shown here after scoring a goal in December 2003, is in talks with English Premiership side Portsmouth, the club's chairman Milan Mandaric said.

Greece's European Championship winner Angelos Basinas is in talks with English Premiership side Portsmouth, the club's chairman Milan Mandaric said.

Mandaric travelled to Greece to meet the 28-year-old Panathinaikos midfielder, and is also hoping Russia midfielder Alexei Smertin will return to Pompey after spending last season on loan from Chelsea.

"We're waiting to see what happens with Smertin, but Bassinas would be a good alternative," Mandaric told the BBC.

"If Alexei is given a key role at Chelsea, he will stay. But if he doesn't he'd like to come back to us."

Smertin, 29, went back to Stamford Bridge to see if he can get into new Blues coach Jose Mourinho's plans for next season.

Basinas was a key member of the Greece team that won Euro 2004 and scored a penalty in their shock 2-1 opening game win over hosts Portugal, who they went on to beat again in the final.

Pompey were in excellent form at the end of last season and pulled away from the relegation zone to finish 13th and seal a second spell of Premiership football.

Mandaric is eager to add fresh faces to the squad to ensure such a run is not necessary this time around.

"There are a lot of good players out there and we have other targets that hopefully we can secure in the next few days," he said.

"We'd like to sort out a deal for Lomano LuaLua in the next couple of days and resolve that situation with Newcastle.

"We're also after the Jamaican international Ricardo Fuller.

"With two new strikers and two midfielders, that would give us the improvement we need for our squad.

"We've have also identified a top defender we would like to sign, but we know that other clubs are interested in him so I can't reveal who it is."