‘Some real interest’: Honest Portsmouth boss John Mousinho lifts lid on Bristol City managerial links for first time
Pompey boss John Mousinho’s future was under the spotlight earlier this summer amid interest from Bristol City and Stoke City.
John Mousinho has admitted there was ‘some real interest’ in him from Bristol City earlier this summer.
And the Pompey boss explained there was also ‘minor’ interest in his services from elsewhere which never materialised.
The head coach’s future was under the spotlight following the 2025-26 season’s climax, which saw the Blues avoid Championship relegation for the second successive campaign.
Mousinho was on the radar of the football operations at Ashton Gate in May as the Robins went in search of Gerhard Struber’s permanent successor.
Bristol City’s search moved on, however, with Lincoln City's Michael Skubala instead taking the reins.
It was understood there was also interest from Stoke City in the Pompey boss as the Potters weighed up Mark Robins’ future following a disappointing run-in.
But Mousinho remained at Fratton Park and has finally spoken on the summer speculation for the first time as the Blues returned for full pre-season training on Monday.
John Mousinho responds to Bristol City and Stoke City interest
When asked by The News whether there was interest earlier this summer, the head coach said: ‘To a certain extent. There was some real interest at the start of the summer. The one that had the most air time was Bristol City.
‘There was an initial conversation between the club and my agent, but it didn’t get any further than that. No official approach.
‘I spoke to the club about it early on, as per my contract, just to make sure everybody's on the same page. Absolutely nothing progressed.
‘Bristol City didn’t contact the club or ask to speak to me so that got a lot more air time than perhaps what was going on behind closed doors and that was dealt with fairly swiftly.
‘That was the one bid of real interest, there were a couple of other bits of minor interest that never went beyond that.
‘To be honest it was a very calm summer after the first couple of weeks of wild speculation. And a lot of it I just watched with interest from afar knowing that it wasn’t true.’
Why Pompey boss revealed summer interest
There was talk of previous interest from Bristol City in Mousinho in 2023, with the Robins instead appointing Liam Manning.
And after fresh speculation on his future, the head coach has stressed he wanted to be honest with supporters about this summer’s talk.
‘I can come here and lie to you and cover things up. There has been plenty of other bits like this in the past that never got out into the press, this one was publicly.
‘Nothing ever comes from my end, I like to keep things very, very tight even if there has been interest from other football clubs.
‘Over the past three years, for the most part, we’ve managed to stave that off and never had the conversation in public because I don’t think it’s particularly healthy.
‘As you saw over the summer, there’s that wild speculation and fans thinking X, Y and Z is going on when it’s really not.
‘I never mind being open and honest about things particularly when they’re out there. I think it would be a bit disrespectful of me to come in and start lying and covering up and saying nothing had happened over the summer.’