What comes next with Portsmouth transfer window business up and running
Pompey transfer news is what supporters are hungry for with Adrian Segecic the club’s first summer signing. The good news is the phoney war is over - here’s what comes next in the summer window.
The transfer teasers have been dusted off and the anticipation at a new signing felt again by the Fratton Faithful.
Okay, perhaps it wasn’t a great surprise with The News firmly across developments and, apparently, the club’s announcement graphic was worthy of criticism, but a done deal is a done deal.
Segecic in - but what Pompey transfer news is next?
Adrian Segecic’s arrival certainly offered a breezy Wednesday late-night boost amid the soaring Antipodean-esque temperatures greeting the Aussie, as he touched down in Pompey.
The homework suggests there’s a large degree of potential to quietly enthuse over Segecic, enough to ignore the standard ‘cheap option’ line trotted out by the knockers over the growing Aussie contingent at Fratton Park.
But the swathe of articles, tweets and videos chronicling the 21-year-old’s rise and every step of his recruitment have been consumed, digested and come out the other end.
Now we want to know what comes next!
With there a clear run of 74 days until September 1, after the window was punctuated by a six-day closure to satisfy the demand of it being open a total 89 days, the phoney war is over.
And in that time there’s a lot of work for Pompey to do.
Okay, we’re not expecting to hit the 14 new faces who’ve arrived over each of the past two summers under sporting director Rich Hughes.
Mousinho has loosely referenced eight signings when discussing the volume of recruitment.
‘I certainly don't think it’s going to be one or two,’ the Pompey boss told The News last month. ‘Its going to be more than that. What we need to do as a football club is stabilise year-on-year. So, for example - and please don’t hold me to this - if we do eight in the summer, that’s great. If there's more in January, fine.’
The middle of the park certainly needs significant attention with central defence wide areas and number nine position the obvious areas for surgery. Then departures would evidently affect the amount of arrivals.
Pompey transfer business now has to start moving - and it will
What is ideally required now, though, is for things to start moving.
Yes, it would be lovely for Pompey to be motivated to announce some business to satiate the appetite of fans hungry for transfer news. It will be pulling the group together to give Mousinho the maximum amount of time to mould his playing unit which will be the motivation, however.
Ahead of the title-winning campaign when the Blues were a big League One draw, all the permanents with the exception of Regan Poole were part of the pre-season training camp in south-east Spain. Abu Kamara, Alex Robertson and Tino Anjorin were the three loanees who followed later.
Twelve months on there were just five new bodies with the group in Croatia at the start of July, with that number including young Reuben Swann and back-up keeper Jordan Archer. Jordan Williams, Sammy Silvera and Josh Murphy were the other early arrivals.
It’s now just over two weeks until Pompey head off to Slovakia, so using that as a yardstick points to it potentially being a busy period from where things stand presently.
Getting deals done, and deals done for the required level of Championship performer, isn’t a process which happens quickly, though, and there is the consideration of holding your nerve for the right addition.
All the noises have been of the pace picking up over this period, however, while there has certainly been an air of order projected from the club and its key operators.
But things have to start moving now and they will, as the long warm-up makes way for the real transfer window action commencing.