'Very little time': Portsmouth boss in hurry for more transfers after ending midfield hunt

Pompey are ramping up their summer recruitment drive following an encouragingly busy end to last week.

Although John Mousinho suggests business has now been concluded in the central midfield area.

And that means no return for Freddie Potts, while finally putting to bed fading interest in Pelle Mattsson, who continues to interest Norwich.

Friday’s double arrival of Luke Le Roux and Mark Kosznovszky takes the number of central midfielders in the Blues squad to five.

In addition, Terry Devlin can also operate there, while Abdoulaye Kamara remains on their books, despite the club being keen to offload the transfer disappointment.

Pompey are still noticeably short in wing areas, particularly with Harvey Blair still injured and Matt Ritchie available for transfer and possessing no Fratton Park future.

In addition, they look light in attack following the summer exits of Kusini Yengi and Christian Saydee, leaving Colby Bishop and Thomas Waddingham as the only options.

Yet Mousinho is satisfied with the options in centre midfield; Marlon Pack, Andre Dozzell, John Swift, Le Roux and Kosznovszky.

Portsmouth boss: I think that’s a pretty good five

He told The News: ‘I think we are pretty well placed in the centre of the park now.

‘If you look across it, we have Luke, Marlon, Dos, Swifty and Mark. They are a pretty good five in there, with a lot of players which complement each other and can fill those positions.

‘Never say never, we will always keep looking if anything pops up, but I think that’s a pretty good five.

‘Overall, we are still looking to strengthen in other areas, so we’re not done yet. I guess there’s plenty of time and very little time at the same time, if that makes sense.

‘The season is coming up really quickly and we have seen how long some of these transfers take to get done.

‘We stand by our guns, though, and want to bring the right players in at the right time, rather than just filling the squad for the sake of it.’

Four summer signings for Portsmouth

The Blues have so far recruited four players during the summer transfer window, with progress a little slower than in previous years.

Australian attacking midfielder Adrian Segecic was the sole new face on their Slovakian training camp earlier this month, although promising winger Harry Clout has now stepped up to the first-team following his graduation from the Academy.

Since their return, Swift has joined on a free transfer from West Brom and is seen as a number eight option by Mousinho, operating further ahead of the holding midfielder.

He has subsequently featured twice in pre-season friendlies, including the second half of Saturday’s 4-0 victory at Reading amid an encouraging Blues display.

Former MTK Budapest man Kosznovszky is also viewed as a number eight, while Le Roux, who has featured 17 times for top-flight side IFK Varnamo during the current Swedish season, will challenge for the number six role.

Marlon Pack is another option for the deep-lying midfielder, while Dozzell is a little more versatile, offering an alternative as an eight or potentially dropping back. On occasions last season, he also operated just behind the striker.

In the meantime, Potts featured as a substitute for West Ham against Manchester United in a 2-1 defeat at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, on Sunday.

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