By John Sinnott

Portsmouth's administrator has placed a valuation on the club for the first time and insists the Premier League outfit are an attractive investment.

"I think buyers will need in excess of £30m to buy the club," Andrew Andronikou told BBC Sport.

"It's a good opportunity to buy a club with a great history and I really want to focus on finding the right buyer.

"The Premier League have offered their hand and I'm very comfortable that the club will be starting next season."

Portsmouth became the first Premier League club in history to enter administration after racking up debts of "£60-£70m".

But Andronikou is confident Pompey will survive and has revealed that he has heard from 12 parties interested in buying the club.

He told PA Sport that the next step was to assess the quality of that interest and said: "We need to sit down first and look at funding."

606: DEBATE What does the future hold for Portsmouth

Andronikou also revealed he had already met with two parties who had shown him proof of funds and he had sent them away and asked them to bring him even more "transparent proof".

"There is no timescale," Andronikou added. "We are not rushing. We want to do it properly. We need a measured approach.

"It's about putting the club in the hands of someone who is going to look after it and make sure it's in a good position in three, six, nine months' time."

In the meantime, Andronikou admits the club will have to cut costs significantly and find ways of raising much-needed funds.

He is due to meet Premier League chairmen on Thursday to explore the possibility of allowing the club to sell players and then take them back on loan for the remainder of the season.

However, he said he is keen not to to go down the route of selling players because it would weaken the team and could therefore devalue the Premier League run-in.

"It's new territory for the Premier League, but I'm sure we can reach a commercial compromise," added Andronikou, an insolvency practitioner from UHY Hacker Young.

"They can't loan us money, but they can help us with future parachute payments and a variation of transfer window - the idea of a sale and loan of players.

"But I'm aware that I'm dealing with professional athletes and there is a danger of distorting the competition."

Pompey face a nine-point deduction for going into administration.

That would leave the Hampshire club on 10 points - 14 from safety and virtual certainties for relegation to the Championship.

"I know we have the wherewithal to finish the season, though there will have to be cost cutting from top to bottom," said Andronikou, who estimates Portsmouth's playing squad is worth £38m.

He also confirmed the existence of a covenant on Fratton Park that stipulates the stadium must be used for football, apparently ruling out any hopes of selling it to generate much-needed revenue.

On Tuesday, Portsmouth were ordered to return to the High Court on 15 March after their case against Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs was adjourned.

HMRC challenged the club going into voluntary administration and questioned the validity of Andronikou's appointment as administrator.

According to a UHY Hacker Young statement: "HMRC now accepts that administration is the right way forward for the football club and we are confident that the administration will continue once this procedural issue has been resolved."

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