'Sky's the limit': Portsmouth newcomer backed to flourish after impressive West Ham star turn
The Blues recruited the Estonian international from Fredrikstad in July
Ebou Adams is convinced ‘the sky’s the limit’ for Rocco Shein after an encouraging Pompey impact.
The Estonian international arrived from Norwegian club Fredrikstad last month and crowned his Blues debut with a man-of-the-match display against West Ham on Saturday.
Although John Mousinho’s men lost their 2026-27 season opener with a 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat, Shein’s eye-catching contribution represented a huge positive.
Initially forming a central-midfield partnership with Luke Le Roux, the 23-year-old ended the game in tandem with Adams for the final 30 minutes.
And for Adams, it hasn’t taken long for Shein to make an encouraging early impression - both on and off the pitch.
‘I love playing with him’
He told The News: ‘Rocco’s a character, that’s the most important thing. When he came in, he settled in very quickly, he feels like a home-grown player in a way and I support him.
‘He has done really well and it’s nice to see. He’s very good on the ball, he wants the ball all the time, he likes to play progressive passes and that’s what you want from a midfielder, to be able to get it and dictate.
‘I love playing with him because we can both rotate in the roles. If he wants to go further up and we can swap and, if not, I will go forward. Hopefully we can keep building that relationship, the sky is the limit for him.
‘I will be honest with you, you can come from anywhere, you can be from the forest and I will make sure you settle in pretty quickly! I couldn’t care less, once you’ve got that Pompey badge on it’s important you are a family now
‘I think we’re good at welcoming people in and settling really quickly. The Championship is forgiving, it’s ruthless, so we have to get them up to speed in terms of “Look, this is what you are dealing with, this is what it is”.
‘I was speaking to him throughout the whole game against West Ham and he seemed very comfortable, which is good.’
Shein made his first Pompey outing in a 1-1 friendly draw with Bristol Rovers last month, appearing at half-time.
He has since started against Wycombe and Darmstadt, before making his competitive debut in the Blues’ visit to the London Stadium.
And with Jesper Ceesay expected to arrive from Turkish side Antalyaspor next week, Mousinho’s midfield options are expected to be bolstered further.
‘In December, he says he goes on holiday’
Mousinho added: ‘It’s hard for Rocco, their league format is pretty different to ours. I asked him about what he does in December, he says “We go on holiday”.
‘I said forget about that, we have 10-20 games in December! Then I told him not to worry because we’d get him through it.
‘We will support him and he is getting along with the boys, which I’m happy to see.’