Exclusive:Portsmouth boss’ transfer admission over futures of Devlin and Segečić as he acknowledges transfer shortcoming
Adrian Segečić and Terry Devlin remain at Pompey, despite generating transfer interest. John Mousinho discusses the situation over that remaining case, with the club keen to develop and sell talent at a profit.
John Mousinho admitted an exit for Pompey’s prized assets is still on the cards as the club look to kickstart their player trading model.
And the Blues boss acknowledged his club have yet to deliver a standout example of the business they hope will become a regular feature of their transfer work.
Mousinho on selling prized assets for a big profit: There’s that possibility’
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Mousinho’s view on the subject comes as Terry Devlin and Adrian Segečić remain at Fratton Park, after being linked with exits across the summer window.
Wrexham saw a £2m bid for the Northern Ireland international rejected in January, with an anticipated return from the Welsh side not materialising.
Meanwhile, fellow big spenders Birmingham City eyed Segečić as they sought attacking reinforcements, but eventually looked elsewhere to bolster their squad.
Pompey paid £400,000 for Callum Lang at the start of 2024, before the Scouser joined Preston North End for a fee in the region of £2m in January.
That’s a recruitment success story though not an example of the potential huge mark-up on their most bankable players, who were landed for relatively modest fees.
Though under no pressure to sell, Mousinho acknowledged that is still a potential outcome over the duo moving forward.
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He said: ‘We haven’t properly done that yet (bought a player and sold them for a sizable profit).
‘We have done that with a few players, but not to a huge extent.
‘Langy would be a good example, but even Christian Saydee and Ryley (Towler) went for more money than we paid for them.
‘They didn’t fundamentally change the money we’ve got coming into the football club, whereas a couple of the assets we have in the club now may do that.
‘They will either add value to the squad or the value to sell.
‘Terry is a really good example of someone you take a bit of punt on, a lad coming over from Ireland for a five-figure fee, and ultimately who knows what he’s worth at the moment?
‘That one has properly paid off, some of the others do and some of the others don’t.
‘We might have done (sold them) this summer had there been a bid for Segs (Segečić) or Terry.
‘We’re glad there wasn’t in the end, but there’s that possibility.
‘But all the time there’s those assets in the squad we’re not bothered about having a bid yet for them.’
Selling a player for sizable profit assumes greater significance for Pompey under the next Squad Cost Rule (SCR) system in the Championship, which limits clubs to spending 85 per cent of their income on player and manager-related costs - with a £33m equity top-up allowed over three years.
With financial forecasts said to put the Blues close to that ceiling over the next five years, being able to reinvest profits from players sales on further trading becomes more important.
Mousinho added: ‘Financially it helps as well, that’s a big thing. Within the financial restrictions if you get a lot of money for a player you haven’t spent a lot on it does help - because you can reinvest it.’