Pompey and Everton triallist to complete Sheffield United move as Fratton Park side's injury woes continue
Summer Pompey triallist Jamal Baptiste is closing in on a free transfer move to Sheffield United.
The centre-back, who featured four times for the Blues during pre-season, has been training with the Bramall Lane side for three weeks.
And according to The Mirror, that period spent with the Blades is poised to land him a contract, after the 20-year-old made a good impression on the Championship outfit.
The defender has remained a free agent following his decision to leave Manchester City at the end of last season.
Pompey boss John Mousinho was keen on the West Ham youth-team product during the summer after he featured in friendlies against Gosport, the Hawks, Bognor and Wycombe. However, a move never materialised, with Baptiste leaving the Blues to explore other opportunities.
A period at Everton followed. But now it seems Sheffield United - who currently sit fourth in the Championship table - will be the club offering the former England under-19 international a new home to continue his career.
Speaking about the defender at the beginning of August, Mousinho told The News: ‘Jamal was on trial up until Saturday (July 27). We are still in talks, but at the moment he hasn’t been training with us this week.
‘Quite possibly he could come back, but I think Jamal has some other options, so it’s about weighing all those up.
‘I thought he did really well, well enough for us to still be interested, but there’s a lot of factors in play with that and potentially other clubs in terms of what we are looking at in that department.
‘We’ve got to assess all the options there. I thought he did pretty well.’
Pompey were keen on Baptiste after allowing Sean Raggett to depart at the end of last season on a free transfer.
They went into the 2023-24 campaign with four recognised centre-backs in Conor Shaughnessy, Ryley Towler, Tom McIntrye and Regan Poole, although both McIntyre and Poole were not deemed fit to start the season due to their respective injuries.
Ibane Bowat was signed from Fulham for £500,000 on transfer deadline day - but he’s been ruled out for the season after suffering a knee injury in training before making his Pompey debut.
Meanwhile, Shaughnessy has been absent since mid-August with a calf injury and is not expected back until the end of November orbeginning of December.
Despite their recent injury records, both Poole and McIntyre have started each of Pompey’s past seven games in the centre of defence as the Blues’ defensive options have been stretched.
Jordan Williams, who has also operated at centre-back this term, is also currently out with a hip injury picked up against Cardiff last week.