Stoke midfielder Liam Lawrence is set to join David Kitson in moving to the South Coast after the Potters stepped up their efforts to bring in Pompey skipper Marc Wilson.
Wilson, 23, was appointed Portsmouth captain in the summer and, after two years of impressing at Premier League level, has widely been regarded as Pompey's best player at the start of this campaign. With the Potters struggling in the middle of the park Wilson will be looked at as someone to help City get a grip on more games.
West Brom have already had a £3m deal rejected by Portsmouth but Stoke have the added bonus of being able to offer striker David Kitson, and now Liam Lawrence, to the debt ridden club in exchange for one of their few remaining shining lights.
Kitson, had a very public fall out with manager Tony Pulis towards the end of last season and has been training with the youth team as TP looks to offload the former record signing whilst Lawrence has also found himself with a rocky relationship with the Potters boss and has been in and out of the team in recent times.
Portsmouth have confirmed that Lawrence is in talks with the club and also that Stoke have made a bid for Wilson, but that he won't be moving before the weekend and that the club have raised £8m towards the £11m income that needed to be generated this transfer window.
It has been reported that the Potters will pay a small fee aswell as the two attackers with Pompey possibly preferring the players in exchange, rather than cash, as the money would probably get swallowed up not allowing any replacements to be brought in.