‘Those players aren’t going to sign for Portsmouth’: Mousinho reveals transfer issue and spending doubt

John Mousinho has explained why Pompey aren’t likely to spend big on a new number nine this summer.

And the Blues boss has outlined the difficulty with attracting a front-line striker to Fratton Park in the club’s current position.

Mousinho: ‘Those players aren’t going to sign for Pompey’

Mousinho highlighted how bringing in a Championship-ready marksman while Colby Bishop is his established first-choice option is a challenging task.

And the head coach has made no secret of the fact there is a reticence to spend a sizable part of his playing budget on an front-line striker, with the Magic Man at his disposal.

Pompey are looking for a new forward with the injured Bishop and Thomas Waddingham the club’s out-and-out options leading the line.

But Mousinho feels that there needs to be consideration afforded to what that addition looks like.

He said: ‘I’ve used the example a couple of times when speaking to supporters.

‘I said to them if you’re a Championship centre-forward and you really back yourself to play games at the level, when you come to speak to Portsmouth it can be a difficult sell.

‘They can look at it and say “they’ve got this Colby Bishop guy who’s scored 50 goals in the past couple of seasons, even after missing a big chunk of season through heart surgery”. That can be difficult.

‘Thomas Waddingham really wants to make the leap over here. We’ve told him he’s a much longer-term project, there’s no pressure to play straightaway and we do want to develop you into a first-team centre-forward.

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‘That’s a very different conversation to us bringing in a plug-in-and-play striker who’s ready to go in the Championship, and we’re relying on to score 10 or 15 goals in a season. Those players aren’t going to sign for Portsmouth.

‘We play one up top and they will look at it and say: That’s not a particularly attractive sell.

‘We also don’t want to burn what we’d have to burn on a centre-forward in that position. It’s a huge part of your budget and a transfer fee.

‘It’s a really difficult one. You want to strengthen the department as much as you can, but in that position in particular, it can be a difficult one to sell.

‘In other positions there can be more rotation and more positions available, so certainly up top it’s tough.’

Waddingham shows Pompey way to go for strikers

While having a preferred option as Bishop for competition would turn many strikers away from Pompey, Mousinho explained it can be beneficial having the 28-year-old in the building when looking to land a young number nine.

That was the case with Aussie Waddingham, who knows the status quo but also is aware he’s not far from playing time.

Mousinho added: ‘We’ve seen a young striker come in and be close to the starting XI - that was the sell to Tom.

‘You’re coming over here and if you’re good enough you’re going to play - we will never keep you out of the side.

‘We actually played the two of them up front at Coventry and we’re more than willing to do that. We’ve done that a few times.

‘You can come in and learn off Colby and make yourself a better player. Then you can develop into a player who can challenge for that spot and when there’s an injury, loss of form or suspension make sure you’re ready to go.’

READ MORE: John Mousinho’s transfer vow as Pompey look to push spending.