Why Portsmouth's pursuit of in-demand Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Svante Ingelsson has become 'complex'
Pompey remain keen on Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Svante Ingelsson - but the situation has become complicated
A week has now passed since it emerged that Pompey had Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Svante Ingelsson on their January transfer window radar.
A similar timeframe has also elapsed following reports of a £300,000 offer for the Swede being rejected by the Owls’ administrators.
Meanwhile, it’s also been claimed that Championship rivals Millwall have also had a bid knocked back for the 27-year-old, with the Lions also falling to match the Hillsborough outfit’s valuation of the player as we enter the final three days of the winter trading window.
With Derby reportedly keen on the former Rostock and Udinese, too, it’s understandable why the situation around Pompey’s pursuit of Ingelsson has been described as ‘complex’.
But what exactly does that mean? Well, in the latest episode of Pompey Talk, that very question was put to Blues writer and expert Jordan Cross.
Here’s what he said as he explained the situation around Ingelsson as the clock ticks down towards Monday’s 7pm transfer deadline.
Svante Ingelsson transfer explained
‘Svante Ingelsson - it's complicated’, said Cross. ‘That seems to be what goes hand in hand with him at the moment. And yes, it is complicated, as I understand it. There's barriers.
‘But what would that mean?
‘Ive spoken to you (Friday) and I've just written a Transfer Q&A where I've talked about it.
‘I was primarily speculating, perhaps could it be that Pompey need to make it add up in terms of finance? Do they need to free up a space, not just within the 25-man squad, but financially, like maybe moving on a Luke Le Roux?
‘I thought that was a kind of a plausible situation, but as I’ve got more and more information, I think it's more personal to Svante Ingelsson, the complexities of this.
‘I think there's geographical elements to it. I think there's kind of elements of convenience, I think that he wants transport links back to his homeland, and that may be part of the issue.
‘And then, obviously, there's Millwall's interest, and that's London, isn't it? The bright lights of London, could that be part of it as well and just a preference from perhaps Svante or anyone around him to have a geographical preference. So there's all that in the mix as well.
‘So yeah, before anyone does start jumping on Pompey and saying they're not paying the money, it's half a million, which has been spoken about, the bits and pieces I'm picking up on (are) that it might be a bit more about that, and that's certainly issues that Pompey can't really legislate for.’
Pompey’s current midfield options
Pompey have already added to their midfield this month with the £500,000 capture of Ebou Adams from Derby.
He partnered Andre Dozzell in the south-coast derby against Southampton last week and marked his full debut for the Blues with their equaliser in the 77th minute.
That’s made the 30-year-old and instant hero among the Fratton faithful. But with Mousinho’s other options being Marlon Pack and fringe players Luke Le Roux and John Swift following Mark Kosznovszky’s season-ending knee injury, the Blues are expected to add one more body to that department to help with the Championship survival that faces them over the remainder of the season.