Portsmouth boss' transfer admission over ex-Stoke City man Josef Bursik's Fratton Park future
The former England youth international has made 11 appearances since joining in September 2025
John Mousinho admits Josef Bursik could leave Fratton Park following the arrival of Daniel Bielica.
The Pole’s £500,000 signing means the Blues presently have four senior goalkeepers on their books - too many according to their head coach.
Mousinho insists Pompey wouldn’t have looked to recruit another keeper this summer had Bursik not sustained a long-term quad injury at Stoke in April.
However, with just Nicolas Schmid and Ben Killip available for the start of the Championship season, the club opted to bring in Bielica from Dutch club NAC Breda last week.
And with Bursik expected to be sidelined by injury until the end of August, Mousinho intimated the former Club Brugge man could be moved on.
‘We are happy to have that conversation’
He told The News: ‘If Joe had stayed fit at the back end of last year and not torn his quad, it wouldn’t have been a position we were looking to strengthen.
‘This is more to do with making sure we have a strong-enough goalkeeping department. Ultimately, towards the back end of last year, in the big moments where we needed Nico he stepped up to the plate.
‘Joe’s injured now, so we’ll see what happens there. If Joe gets back from injury in time and it’s something we want to explore in terms of him leaving the football club, then we are happy to have that conversation.
‘We don’t need four goalkeepers, we need three. And I think we have four that can play in the Championship.
‘If Joe had stayed fit and wanted to explore his options this summer, I would be very surprised if he didn’t get another Championship football club or the top of League One.
‘He’s training, but still a way away from actually kicking, which is where he did the majority of his damage with his quad. I suspect he’s probably about 3-4 weeks away.
‘What we didn’t want to do is risk not having enough goalkeepers at the start of the season - and we don’t know how long Joe is going to take when he gets back in goal.’
One keeper used in Portsmouth’s 3-1 defeat at Wycombe
Bielica was an unused substitute alongside Killip in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at League One Wycombe. Instead Schmid was handed a 90-minute run-out, being the sole member of Mousinho’s starting XI at Adams Park to do so.
The Pole could well be handed his first outing in Wednesday’s trip to Farnborough (7pm), representing the Blues’ penultimate pre-season friendly.
Bursik, a former England youth international, has made 11 appearances since joining from Club Brugge in September 2025 for a fee of around £250,000.
That includes 10 Championship starts, having been preferred to Killip when deputising for the injured Schmid during the first half of last season.
Bursik, who is out of contract in the summer of 2027, runs the risk of not being registered for Pompey’s 25-man Football League squad, with the Blues prepared to only name three goalkeepers.
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