Portsmouth dealt huge transfer blow as Cardiff agree £3m deal for Alex Robertson with medical booked

All summer, the Blues have been keen on reuniting with the Manchester City midfielder, following a successful Fratton Park loan spell last season that was curtailed by a hamstring injury.

On Saturday, head coach John Mousinho told The News that Pompey remained in the hunt for the young Australia international - despite growing confidence from Championship rivals Cardiff that their interest in the 21-year-old would bare fruit.

Now it appears that Bluebirds optimism had a lot of credability, with BBC Wales today reporting that the Aussie is closing in on a move to Erol Bulat’s side and will become his fifth signing of the summer.

A fee that will rise to £3m has reportedly been agreed with Manchester City, whom Robertson joined as a 15-year-old. 

Meanwhile, it’s understood the formalities of the deal will then be completed upon the completion of a medical that is also booked in for today.

The development will come as a huge blow to the Blues, who remain keen to reinforce their midfield options ahead of their Championship return.

Pompey were keen on Aussie midfielder Aiden O’Neill earlier in the transfer window, while reports last week suggested they had an interest in South Korea international Jeong Ho-yeong.  At present, Owen Moxon and Tom Lowery are competing to play alongside Marlon Pack in the Blues’ engine room for Saturday’s Championship opener at Leeds United.

Speaking about Robertson on Saturday, Mousinho said:  ‘The situation is exactly the same as it was last week, we are still very much interested in a deal for Alex - and I think we are still in for him. 

‘I don’t know about Cardiff, I have no idea, I don’t know the Manchester City side either, they will know a lot more than I would. I just know the Pompey side of it.

‘And the Pompey side is we are still in for him. Who knows (whether it will happen), when you are talking about other sides and conjecture around that, we’re competing against other teams in the league.

‘Alex most likely has got quite a few options and that’s just something we are going to have to try to compete with as best as possible and then go from there.’

Cardiff finished 12th last season in the Championship. Already this summer they have signed Callum Chambers, Chris Willock, Anwar El Ghazi and Wilfried Kanga.

Pompey have made seven signings to date, with Elias Sorensen their latest arrival from Esbjerg on Friday for a fee in the region of 300,000 euros.