Portsmouth and West Brom relegation rivals granted EFL dispensation to sign former £10m Southampton winger and reregister defender
Pompey rival Blackburn Rovers have been granted permission to amend their squad list for the remainder of the season
Pompey relegation rivals Blackburn Rovers have been granted special dispensation by the Englsh Football League (EFL) to amend their the 25-man squad list for their Championship run-in.
But it’s not just one change the Ewood Park have been granted. Instead, the EFL have given them approval to make two adjustments, which subsequently allows them to register their free-transfer arrival - former Southampton winger Nathan Redmond, whose signing was announced on Friday.
The process Blackburn followed is identical to the one the Blues’ underwent on their first season back in the Championship in 2024-25.
Back then, just days after completing his summer move from Fulham, new signing Ibane Bowat suffered a knee injury in training that ruled him out for the remainder of that campiagn. However, the Fratton Park outfit were able to remove the defender from their playing list and subsequently replaced him with Coby Bishop following his return to action following heart surgey two months later.
Rovers, who sit 19th in the Championship table,three points above 21st-placed Pompey, have followed the exact same procedures. Only this time two ammendments have been made.
With defensive duo Sondre Tronstad (ACL) and Lewis Miller (Achilles) both ruled out for the season, Rovers have decided to deregister them and reregister George Pratt for their remaining seven games of the season. A product of their youth system, the 22-year-old has made 10 senior appearances for the club and spent part of the first half of the season at non-league Chorley.
However, they’ve also used the opportunity to bolster their attacking ranks by bringing in once-capped England international Nathan Redmond on a free transfer, with the moves completed before the EFL deadline of Thursday, March 26.
Redmond, who cost Southampton £10m in 2026, has been without a club since his short-term deal with Sheffield Wednesday expired in January. While at Hillsborough, the 32-year-old featured six times but only accumulated 103 minutes of match action.
Prior to that, the forward spent two seasons at Burnley, but only made 14 appearances for the Lancashire outfit before being released last summer.
Despite his lack of game time, Rovers boss Michael O’Neill will be hoping his presence boosts a Blackburn forward line that has scored just 36 goals in the league all season - that’s one fewer that Pompey, whose troubles in front of goal has been well-documented this term.
To sharpen him up, Redmond played 45 minutes for Rovers’ under-21s this week.
Blackburn, who have played a game more than Pompey, travel to Birmingham on their first game back after the international break. That game this then followed by an Ewood clash against West Brom on Bank Holiday Monday.
Pompey still have one place available in their current squad list, with Josh Knight the player likely to benefit if he’s able to prove his fitness following a back injury.