Portsmouth transfer chief responds to criticism over £1m flop’s Fratton Park exit
Luke Le Roux’s Pompey contract was ripped up 13 months into a three-year deal earlier this month.
Rich Hughes has admitted Luke Le Roux’s departure represents a recruitment failure by Pompey.
But the sporting director has offered assurances the Blues will learn from their mistake after the midfielder’s contract was ripped up last week.
After arriving at Fratton Park for £1m in July 2025 from Swedish outfit IFK Varnamo, Le Roux struggled to make an impact in the Championship, featuring just 17 times in all competitions.
That led Pompey making it clear the former South Africa international could leave in the last window, as the club upped their transfer spending.
A transfer couldn’t be found before 11pm on September 1, prompting John Mousinho’s side to come to a settlement with the player over the remaining two years of his contract.
But with the South African departing just a year after his £1m signing, Hughes has responded to criticism, making it clear the move didn’t work out.
Pompey transfer chief responds to criticism after £1m flop’s exit
When asked by BBC Radio Solent whether Le Roux’s departure represented a recruitment failure by the Blues, the sporting director said: ‘Absolutely it does.
‘I think the point on Luke is that everyone would be quite right to point that out as a criticism at myself, John (Mousinho) and the recruitment department.
‘It’s one we will have to take, we have to wear that, we have to be really uncomfortable and we have to be the ones to know that was something that just didn't work out on our part.
‘Luke was a model pro with his time at the football club. It didn’t work for him on the pitch and what we wanted to do and we spent all summer trying to find a permanent solution for him to leave.
‘That didn’t present itself. So, yeah, it didn't work out on our part.
‘The only thing I can give the assurances of anyone pointing criticism at the football club, we will very much internally take that and know that it’s something that didn’t work out and we have to take the learnings and reflect to make sure that doesn’t happen again.’
Luke Le Roux’s unsuccessful Pompey stay
Le Roux’s competitive debut for Pompey was a start in the Carabao Cup against Reading. Despite a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the League One side, Mousinho afterwards praised the South African’s performance.
Tellingly, however, he made successive starts on just two occasions during his Blues career, including the final two matches of last season against Stoke City and Birmingham City.
Despite being told he has no Fratton future, the midfielder appeared on a number of occasions in pre-season and started the curtain raiser against West Ham in the Carabao Cup.
That represented his final outing for the Blues and was named in just one of the four Championship squads prior to his exit.