Portsmouth close in on Sunderland defender with former West Ham United man set to bolster back line
Pompey are closing in on a deal for Sunderland defender Aji Alese.
The News understands the former West Ham man is being lined up to arrive amid the Blues’ central defensive injury crisis.
A loan deal for the 25-year-old is the pathway to the move being completed, with Pompey having two temporary spaces available in their matchday squad.
Ajese has just returned from a broken leg, picked up in the FA Cup against Stoke in January last year.
He has been back training and played at under-21 level since his return, with the centre-back making 46 appearances - 40 coming at Championship level - after joining the Black Cats from West Ham in 2022.
Pompey boss John Mousinho has indicated he is hopeful of a new arrival being in place, before this weekend’s Championship clash with West Brom.
The Blues are also keen on Dundee’s Luke Graham, but the SPL side have their own defensive issues at the moment to contend with.
Speaking over the defensive transfer pathway, Mousinho yesterday told The News: ‘Whether we now need to sign two centre-halves is 50/50 for us at the moment.
‘When the news first broke, I was thinking okay, we’d probably need an extra one because we literally have one centre-half training with us at the minute (Ibane Bowat), who himself has had some issues in terms of injuries.
‘It’s tough because, at some point, we’re going to have Shocks back, we’re going to have Hayden back, we're going to have Josh Knight back, Regan’s going to be back as well, so we just have to balance that off.
‘We don’t want to be too heavy, but, at the same time, we’ve got games to win in the short-term. I think there’s a conversation to be had, I’m not sure of the answer to that.
‘It happens, you’ve got to be reactive as well as proactive. That’s why we have lists and lists for every single position because there are some positions we might think are completely locked off - then, all of a sudden, a few things pop up.
‘If you had asked me a month before the window opened, I probably would have said the only position we’re definitely looking to strengthen is left-back. Now I don’t think we need one. Things change very, very quickly.’