'He's made his intentions clear': Wantaway Portsmouth man not expected to play again for Blues
The former Liverpool man has made 29 appearances and scored once for the Blue since joining in August 2024
Harvey Blair looks to have played his last Pompey game after asking to leave Fratton Park.
Rich Hughes has revealed the former Liverpool man declared his desire to quit the Blues in the summer - only for potential moves away to subsequently fall through.
As a consequence, Pompey opted against including the wantaway winger in their 25-man Football League squad, despite having three vacancies.
The Blues will again attempt to offload Blair when the January window opens, with the 22-year-old previously attracting interest from Polish club Widzew Lodz.
And Hughes doesn’t anticipate the out-of-favour Blair’s first-team situation at Fratton Park to alter ‘unless anything drastic changes’.
‘He made his intentions clear that he wanted to leave the club’
The sporting director told The News: ‘Harvey is outside the squad list at the moment, he’s been doing some training after having had some sickness and illness.
‘He made his intentions clear that he wanted to leave the club in the summer window.
‘He wanted regular first-team football and we were happy to facilitate a move, but, for reasons probably not for disclosure, the deals didn't happen due to other complications at ends away from us, through no fault of this football club.
‘We cut our cloth accordingly to ensure our 25-man squad was our 25. So, with Harvey still being here, if he trains and keeps his levels high then he’s in a position that, should there be takers in January, he can go and kick on at potentially another club.
‘I expect him to stay until January, but, unless anything drastic changes, I wouldn't expect to see in a Pompey shirt between now and January.’
Left out of Portsmouth’s Football League squad
The Blues opted to register 22 players when submitting their 25-man Football League squad at the start of September.
The three vacancies are earmarked for Josh Murphy, Connor Ogilvie and Keshi Anderson upon their long-awaited returns from injury.
That leaves no spot for Blair, who must now wait until January before he can play competitively and for any potential move away from Fratton Park as he enters the final six months of his contract.
Certainly it has been a hugely disappointing stay for the attacker since his Anfield arrival in August 2024, featuring 29 times and scoring once for the Blues.
Injury has primarily wrecked his south-coast stay, with just seven Championship starts, while he didn’t appear in the recent Pompey team photo.
‘That’s why he finds himself out of the squad list’
Hughes added: ‘There’s no ill feeling towards Harvey, we tried to facilitate things in the summer and, for whatever reason, they didn’t come through.
‘I am not apportioning blame at anyone’s door, but there were complications at the end away from here.
‘As such, we as a football club took the decision to operate in the way we felt was necessary to make sure we got our 25-man squad. Harvey wasn’t a part of that on the basis he declared he wanted to be elsewhere.
‘Ultimately, that’s why he finds himself out of the squad list at the moment.’
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