Portsmouth's race against time for new faces as pre-season schedule prepares to ramp up
Pompey are scheduled to head off for a seven-day training camp next weekend
Pompey’s pre-season training camp is looming - and the clock is ticking to recruit new faces in time.
Norwegian media are confident the transfer of Rocco Shein to Fratton Park is nearing completion, while Marko Milovanovic, Archie Collins and Mate Tuboly are also targets.
Certainly John Mousinho will be eager for more playing additions to arrive this week, thereby allowing their inclusion on the traditional squad getaway.
Especially when Adrian Segecic was the sole new signing present during last year’s stay at the impressive X-Bionic Sphere in Samorin, Slovakia.
The Blues are presently keeping the precise destination of this summer’s training camp under wraps, yet they are scheduled to leave for it this coming weekend.
At present, two weeks into the transfer window, they have still to add any new faces to the playing squad, although ongoing transfer developments suggest that could well change imminently.
Hugely beneficial
Undoubtedly it would be hugely beneficial for new signings to be in place for Pompey’s forthcoming training camp, enabling them to get to know their team-mates and also adjust to training demands.
Ahead of the Blues’ return to the Championship in the summer of 2024, there were five newcomers among those who flew out to Medulin in Croatia for the camp.
They included free agents Jordan Williams, Josh Murphy and Jordan Archer and the promising Reuben Swann, signed from AFC Sudbury.
Also in attendance was Sammy Silvera, recruited on a season-long loan from Middlesbrough just five days earlier, albeit proving to be an ill-fated arrangement.
Nine new faces in 2023 training camp
There were as many as nine new players on the training camp in the summer of 2023 which marked Mousinho’s first pre-season, having arrived as head coach six months earlier from Oxford United.
Indeed, Will Norris, Conor Shaughnessy, Christian Saydee, Terry Devlin and Anthony Scully all joined the Blues in the opening three days of an extremely strong window of recruitment.
They travelled to La Cala Resort in Mijas, Malaga, for six days, consisting of a pre-season friendly against Gibraltar side Europa FC at the end of it.
Other new faces on that trip - taking the number to nine - were Ben Stevenson, Jack Sparkes, Gavin Whyte and Kusini Yengi.
Meanwhile, joining the Blues days after their return from Spain was Regan Poole, who was available on a free transfer following his departure from Lincoln.
Segecic only new face in Slovakia
In comparison, Segecic was the only Pompey arrival during the opening six weeks of last summer’s transfer window, joining for an undisclosed fee from Sydney FC.
By the time John Swift was unveiled as the second summer recruit following his West Brom exit, the Blues had been back from their training camp for four days.
Certainly the time in Slovakia proved beneficial for Segecic after leaving Australia for a shot at the English league, although he already knew Hayden Matthews, having grown up in Sydney together.
In previous years, Paul Cook favoured a team-bonding holiday in the Algarve rather than the traditional training camp, after becoming Pompey boss in the summer of 2015.
Lasting several days, little training actually took place, with seven newcomers in Kyle Bennett, Kal Naismith, Enda Stevens, Gary Roberts, Adam Barton, Adam McGurk and Christian Burgess forging friendships in a far more convivial environment.
Now it remains to be seen whether any new signings will be completed in time to enable them to attend this summer’s training camp, which starts on Sunday.
While undoubtedly every manager’s preference is to involve all new signings, the transfer market isn’t as helpful as that.
Your Next Pompey Read: New Portsmouth season yet time running out for Fratton Park's forgotten man