'Greater investment': Portsmouth chief Andy Cullen details Michael Eisner's Championship ambition for 2026-27
The Blues league fixtures kick off today with QPR’s visit to Fratton Park
Andy Cullen laid bare Pompey’s ambition for 2026-27 and insisted: We must progress.
This season marks the Blues’ third back at Championship level, a return which has so far consisted of consecutive relegation battles.
Having successfully consolidated their presence under John Mousinho, this summer has signalled ‘greater investment’ in player recruitment, according to the chief executive.
Certainly the signings of Marko Milovanovic, Abu Kamara and Rocco Shein represent Pompey’s most expensive transfer business since departing the Premier League in May 2010.
For Cullen, it indicates a fresh willingness from owners Tornante to back the hierarchy’s desire to set their sights higher up the Championship table, while bolstering a recruitment model still in its infancy.
And he believes the switch to a new ‘long-term focus’ can reap rewards for the Blues on and off the pitch.
‘We’ve made the decision to put some greater investment into the squad’
Cullen told The News: ‘We want to progress, which is why we’ve made the decision to put some greater investment into the squad this year.
‘We’ve done well for two years in terms of relative standings in a competitive division, a division which now has the play-offs extended down to eighth position. We’re at a stage where we aren’t going to be challenging the top six, but it’s about gradual improvement over the next few years so we can progress as a Championship club.
‘There is a long-term focus on how we can get Pompey into a position over the next few years where we can challenge for promotion. We don’t expect to do it in one hit, the first two years have been about consolidation and, having achieved that position, it’s about where we go next.
‘That has very much been part of careful and thoughtful discussions which have been going on since towards the back end of last season and across the summer. Already we can see some improvements, we have upped the game in terms of the investment - and we are by no means done yet.
‘Financing is one of the different ways we can do that. We’re going to be incredibly reliant on ownership and increasing the ownership investment, which signals their intent and commitment.
‘Another method is the player-trading model as it starts to take shape. Most clubs in the Championship operate that way, less so Pompey at the moment, but that’s the game we want to be in.
‘Look at the way Coventry have invested over the last 5-6 years to get to where they are at the moment, bringing some really, really good players in.
‘In the early days, they were investing in £1m talent - a bit like us - before notching it up a gear to the next level and then going on from there over a five-year period, three of which have been under Doug King.
‘We are now making the significant investments which take you onto that level, so hopefully we can start making use of that player-trading model too.’
Eye-catching summer signings
The eye-catching summer signings of Kamara and Milovanovic have undoubtedly excited the Fratton faithful, while Shein’s man-of-the-match debut at West Ham has already seen him earmarked as a potential success story.
Adding the newcomers to existing talent such as Terry Devlin, Adrian Segecic, Josh Murphy, Regan Poole, Conor Shaughnessy, Zak Swanson and Ebu Adams reflects on the growing strength of Mousinho’s squad.
As ever, injuries will have an impact, particularly in the case of Murphy, who continues to recover from groin surgery in April and is pencilled in for a first-team comeback at the end of this month.
But, as it stands, Cullen is heartened by the level of recruitment carried out over the summer - with time still remaining under the transfer window’s closure at 11pm on Tuesday, September 1.
‘We are still running the football club in a sustainable way’
He added: ‘There’s a lot of work still to do between now and the end of August in terms of continuing to develop and improve the squad, but we are prepared to act with patience to get the individuals and the extra players we think are going to make that difference.
‘We made a significant investment in Marko Milovanovic, we made a significant investment in Rocco Shein. We have also invested in some younger players, not forgetting our commitment to that as well.
‘Luke Brooke-Smith and Eoin Kenny have come over, they are ones who we will develop over time, but also some of the biggest signings have the potential to go on, being young.
‘We are still running the football club in a sustainable way, which still means we’re relying on the owners to fund the additional investment.
‘But we’re doing it in a measured way, in a thoughtful way, and one which doesn’t put the club at risk - while still showing ambition.’
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