'Absolutely': Portsmouth chief's tantalising admission over Fratton future of Luton Town's Millenic Alli
The winger has scored once and contributed two assists in his five Blues appearances so far
Rich Hughes has tantalisingly kept the door ajar for a potential permanent Millenic Alli deal.
The impressive Luton winger has made an instant impact since arriving at Fratton Park last month on loan for the remainder of the season.
He had fallen out of the first-team picture at Kenilworth Road under Jack Wilshere, failing to make six successive squads ahead of his Blues switch.
However, Alli has scored once and provided two assists in his five Pompey appearances to date - and will again be lining up on the left wing for Saturday’s visit of Sheffield United.
As a Championship club, Hatters brought the attacker from League One Exeter in January 2025 for a reported £1.5m and he has since totalled 38 games and five goals for them.
And Hughes believes that, should the ‘opportunity’ arise to sign Alli permanently, Pompey would definitely be interested.
‘It’s absolutely something we would look to explore’
He told The News: ‘Milli’s impact has been really good and we are really pleased with it.
‘Not everything should be judged as what it’s addressed as. He’s a player coming from League One because he performed well in the Championship and, through various circumstances at his parent club, found himself slightly out of favour. I think that’s to our fortune at the minute.
‘Luton still really like the player and know he can perform in the Championship, but, ultimately, should a set of scenarios happen, we’d be really keen to keep him here.
‘He has done really well for us, we’ve really enjoyed having him, he has taken to the group, he’s taken to the area.
‘Most of all, he’s starting to affect games on the pitch, so, if there’s an opportunity to do that (sign him), it’s absolutely something we would look to explore.
‘Everyone is always striving for the really consistent wingers, but they tend to navigate their way to the absolute top end of the game. We have been really pleased with Milli’s output, I thought he was excellent again on Saturday, especially on a really tricky track at Preston.
‘We’re pleased with how Milli has been so far and his impact, while I think he has already endeared himself to the fans.’
Thriving during Pompey winger crisis
Following his arrival from Exeter mid-way through the 2024-25 campaign, Alli netted four times in his final six Championship matches, including a last-gasp leveller at Stoke and a winner at Derby.
However, he couldn’t prevent relegation to League One, with the Hatters presently seventh, four points behind the play-off spots, in his ongoing absence.
His Pompey arrival has been particularly timely with fellow wingers Josh Murphy, Franco Umeh, Harvey Blair, Florian Bianchini and now Keshi Anderson also sidelined by injury.
Alli has subsequently started five successive games, all on the left flank, although he had a stint leading at centre-forward against West Brom when Colby Bishop was forced off with an ankle injury.
‘He’s pacy, he’s direct, he can play the game one-v-one’
Hughes added: ‘If you look at what Milli did at Luton, he was one of their best players and had a real influence on them nearly stopping up towards the back end of the season.
‘He was a player we were tracking at Exeter and had been accurately aware of him coming up through the non-leagues. We felt he fitted the profile of player we were looking for.
‘He’s pacy, he’s direct, he can play the game one-v-one, he can stretch the pitch, he has that unique ability similar to Josh Murphy with the pace to run past you, but also, if you drop off, he can deliver a good ball like the Sheffield Wednesday goal.
‘I don't think it’s one to give ourselves too much praise for recruiting him, it’s actually taking it on a case-by-case scenario of knowing that there’s a player who has performed in the Championship.
‘Plus it’s probably due to few connections I have at Luton and being able to get the inside track on why he wasn’t the style of winger they wanted to proceed with. I think it was a good decision to take it early and be able to bring him in.’