Portsmouth boss makes call over defender’s future after Fratton Park exit
The Pompey defender has left for Sydney FC in the A-League, bringing his Championship stay to a close - for now at least.
John Mousinho believes Jacob Farrell can go on to have a successful career in the game after his Fratton exit.
But the Pompey boss stressed the Australian left-back needs to answer the questions over his robustness he’s been unable to solve in his time in England.
Mousinho on Farrell: ‘I think there’s a player in there, he just needs to stay fit’
Farrell this week completed a loan move to A-League side Sydney FC on a loan deal for the rest of the season.
The 23-year-old still has two years to run on the deal he signed when joining from Central Coast Mariners in 2024, but the Blues will be happy to make that temporary agreement permanent.
That’s after a nightmare stint at PO4, which has seen the Socceroos under-21 international hit by a string of different injury issues.
Knee and more recently groin setbacks have limited Farrell to just a single start and appearance off the bench in the league, along with one Carabao Cup outing.
The Gosford-born man is now close to being back on action and has flown to Australia to join up with his new employers, who are gearing up for their new campaign beginning next month.
Mousinho made it clear he feels Farrell has the ability to thrive in the game, but first needs to answer the fitness doubts over him.
He said: ‘Jacob is a lovely lad, it’s just not worked out for him for a number of reasons - not least the injuries Jacob’s had.
‘While he’s had those injuries we’ve recruited left-backs ahead of him. We have three left-backs in the building we think are ahead of him at the minute.
‘So it’s best that he goes out and gets minutes elsewhere.
‘There’s a reason we signed him.
‘He did feature for us in the Championship, albeit the one start against Sheffield United and those minutes against Watford when he came on.
‘I think there’s a player in there, he just needs to stay fit. That’s the biggest thing, he’s never been able to stay fit in his time here.’
Farrell finished last season on loan with Western Sydney Wanderers in his homeland, before returning for pre-season training with Pompey.
He soon suffered a fresh groin setback in July, which has kept him sidelined for the past couple of months.
Connor Ogilvie, who is out with a knee injury, and Zak Swanson were left as the contracted left-back options with Pompey swooping to land Brentford’s Jayden Meghoma on loan at the transfer window’s climax.
Mousinho made it clear the football operation felt they had to make the decision to move on from considering Farrell as an option for this term.
He added: ‘We were in a situation this summer where we felt we needed to recruit at left-back. That’s what we decided to do. Ultimately we think we’ve put ourselves in a stronger position there.’