Portsmouth monitoring ex-Stoke and England youth international goalkeeper in bid to boost squad
The 25-year-old has previously featured for Hednesford, Telford, Accrington, Doncaster, Peterborough and Lincoln
Pompey are on the trail of a former England under-21 player to boost their goalkeeping ranks.
With Jordan Archer attracting strong interest from League Two club Salford, the Blues are readying to dip into the transfer market if required.
And it is understood former Stoke stopper Josef Bursik has been identified as a potential replacement for the 32-year-old.
Instead Nicolas Schmid and triallist Alfie Whiteman shared a half each as John Mousinho’s men won 1-0 at their Copnor Road training ground.
The Blues are continuing to run the rule over Whiteman, who is a free agent following his release from Spurs and has now featured twice in Pompey’s pre-season.
Joined Club Brugge in January 2023
Yet there is also interest in Bursik, who is presently with Club Brugge, with the Belgian club having bought him from Stoke for an undisclosed fee in January 2023.
The 25-year-old spent last term on loan with Hibernian, where he made 17 appearances for the Scottish Premiership side in the first half of the season before dropping to the bench.
Hibs went on to finish third, winning a place in the Europa League second qualifying round, although Bursik didn’t feature for them after November 2024.
England youth recognition
As a highly-regarded youngster, he featured for every England age group from the under-17s right the way up to the under-21s, totalling 35 international appearances.
He was England’s goalkeeper for their penalty shoot-out defeat in the final of the 2017 European Under-17 Championship and part of their Under-17 World Cup-winning squad.
The Lambeth-born stopper made 50 appearances for Stoke in the Championship, with 16 league starts in the first half of the 2022-23 campaign before his switch to Club Brugge.
Bursik’s career also consists of loan spells at Hednesford, Telford, Accrington, Doncaster, Peterborough and Lincoln.
The structure of any potential Fratton Park deal would have to take into account he is contracted with Club Brugge until the summer of 2027.
Portsmouth eyeing four goalkeepers
Pompey have previously admitted they would like four goalkeepers on their books, with numbers reduced after Toby Steward secured a season-long loan at St Johnstone.
He kept a clean sheet on Saturday as they beat Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1-0 in the Scottish Cup, representing his second outing for the Scottish Championship club.
In Steward’s absence at Fratton Park, Pompey have Schmid, Ben Killip and Archer as goalkeeping options at present, although they could well change considering Salford’s interest in the latter.
Archer has 12 months remaining on his deal and, having featured three times last season, could find himself serving as third choice behind Schmid and Killip.
Meanwhile, Killip was also absent from Pompey’s behind-closed-doors friendly with Crawley, although signed a new two-year deal last month and clearly has a Fratton Park future.
Mousinho’s men are next in action at Reading next Saturday (July 26), followed by friendlies against the Hawks (July 29) and PEC Zwolle (August 2).
Their season begins at Oxford United on Saturday, August 9, with Pompey seeking to build on last season’s encouraging finish of 16th.
Your Next Pompey Read: Pompey man targeted by League Two club for transfer window switch