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Portsmouth CEO targets Premier League return

Portsmouth chief executive Mark Catlin says that he believes the club can return to the Premier League in short order with the right investment.

Portsmouth chief executive Mark Catlin has said that he is confident the club can return to the Premier League sooner rather than later if they find the right owner.

Pompey secured promotion to League One on Monday, seven years on from their fall from grace from the Premier League amid severe financial problems that threatened the club's existence.

American businessman Michael Eisner - former chairman at Disney - is currently in the midst of exclusive negotiations about purchasing the club, with talks expected to be complete by June 1.

Speaking after Pompey's promotion to the third tier was confirmed, Catlin told Sky Sports News: "Unfortunately for Portsmouth it's been scarred by a history of bad owners, generally. Not everyone, Milan Mandaric when he was our owner here was really highly regarded.

"I liken it to girlfriends. You might have a string of bad girlfriends but that doesn't stop you looking for the next one and hopefully one day one will become your wife and you live happily ever after. Hopefully, possibly Michael Eisner might be that one.

"As a club I think we can [get back to the Premier League]. I think we are now set up, we've got great foundations to do that it's just how fast and how quickly we do that and a lot of that will require an amount of investment we can bring into the club."

Portsmouth's last fixture as a Premier League club was a 1-0 loss at Everton in May 2010.

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Neil Wilkes
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A general view of Fratton Park prior to the Sky Bet League Two match between Portsmouth and Northampton Town at Fratton Park on December 29, 2013
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