Former Portsmouth keeper Asmir Begovic joins Championship rivals - amid reported interest from Southampton

Former Pompey goalkeeper Asmir Begovic could make a playing return at Fratton Park next season.

And, thankfully, it won’t be with that lot up the road, Southampton, who were reportedly keen on the 38-year-old this transfer window.

Instead, the much-travelled former Bosnia international stopper could line up against the Blues for Leicester City, who have today announced his arrival on a free transfer following his Everton release.

Begovic has signed a one-year deal with the recently-relegated King Power Stadium outfit and once again links up with Foxes boss Marti Cifuentes, who was his manager at QPR during the 2023-24 season.

With the keeper making 45 league appearances for the R’s that year, it’s no surprise that he’s sided with Cifuentes and a move to Leicester, where he’ll compete for a starting role alongside Mads Hermansen and Jakub Stolarczyk.

That leaves new Saints boss Will Still continuing his search for goalkeeping reinforcements, with Aaron Ramsdale expected to seal a move to Newcastle United before the new campaign kicks off.

Former Blues loanee Gavin Bazunu remains at St Mary’s, having featured eight times on loan at Standard Liege last season as he overcame a serious Achilles injury that kept him out for nine months.

Asmir Begovic - a product of Pompey’s youth system

Begovic, who is now at his 14th club and has cost teams more than £21m in transfer fees down the years, turned out for Pompey at the highest level after coming through the ranks at Fratton Park.

The 6ft 5in man was recruited by the Blues in 2003 when he arrived on trial and was immediately offered a deal after impressing.

Begovic gained exposure to first-team football at Macclesfield, Bournemouth and Yeovil, before being given his Pompey debut at the end of the 2008-09 season in a 3-1 Fratton Park win over Sunderland.

The following season saw the Canadian-born stopper make his Blues breakthrough in earnest under Paul Hart, going on to make 17 appearances as his club became the first Premier League side to go into administration.

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Spurs and the £1m wrangle for Pompey keeper they never owned

Begovic was then sacrificed with Pompey in financial meltdown - and the bemusing situation of Spurs demanding £1m for a player they never owned in a long-running financial wrangle.

The Londoners were keen on bringing him in for a second time under Harry Redknapp, but the player pushed for a deal to join Stoke City - where his career hugely accelerated.

Begovic never wanted to leave Pompey, however, and was known at time to have been extremely emotional over being forced out.

Speaking to The News over those events in 2021, he said: ‘Begovic told The News: ‘I didn’t want to leave Pompey. I was playing regular Premier League football, I was in a great environment, we’d had our first child and just moved into our first home.

‘Working with Dave Coles, I was pushing, pushing, pushing to keep progressing. Then bigger things took over. It wasn’t that I wanted to go – I had to go.

‘I had done really well in the first team and was 22 at the time. If you’re playing in the Premier League at that age, you become a big potential asset.

‘Considering the financial trouble the club was going through, when January came around I understood I was probably going to be sold some way, somehow.

‘I don’t know all the ins and outs of what was happening at Pompey, but we knew two or three of us had to be sold to bring in enough funds for the club to survive.

‘My daughter, Taylor, had been born in St Mary’s Hospital in August 2009, while just before that my wife and I had brought a home in Bursledon.

‘The location was ideal considering training was at Eastleigh. It was a nice area for us to try to put some roots down – but that got turned upside down very quickly.

‘It was a Thursday, we were having a team lunch, when I received a phone call telling me a bid had been accepted for myself and Younes Kaboul from Spurs. My medical was the following morning.

‘I had to pack a bag and head up to London to stay in a hotel that evening. All I could say was “Okay”. It happened incredibly fast.

‘I was leaving Pompey, I didn’t have a choice. But I made sure I had a say in where my next step took me. It was vital I made the right decision. I chose Stoke instead.'

Thsi season, Pompey travel to Leicester on October 18. Fratton Park will then host the reverse fixture on April 18.

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