Portsmouth boss reveals outcome of Eisner talks with eyes on January transfer business
John Mousinho and sporting director Rich Hughes met with Michael Eisner and his family for key transfer talks in Southsea this month. The Pompey boss reveals how things now stand over January window business.
John Mousinho is confident Pompey will be in a ‘good position’ to strengthen in the January transfer window following talks with the Eisners.
The Blues boss revealed the club’s owners were ‘receptive’ to proposals to bolster the club’s ranks in the new year, following discussions during their recent visit.
Mousinho on transfers: ‘I think we’ll be in a good position’
Mousinho explained the exact details of what is to take place in the winter period of recruitment is still to be defined, however, and will not be nailed down until the end of next month.
What is going to happen in terms of transfer business at the start of 2026 once again looks set to be of paramount importance to Pompey, who have struggled in the Championship of late.
Mousinho gave supporters an insight into the recent meeting which took place at the Queen’s Hotel in Southsea, in the wake of the 0-0 draw with Wrexham.
He said: ‘They (the owners) were great and we had some really positive discussions about where we are as a football club.
‘It came off the back of a good performance against Wrexham, which was probably a good barometer of where we are and where we need to strengthen in January. It was a really useful week to have them over and have those discussions.
‘Absolutely (they were receptive to any requests), the Eisners have always been very receptive to what we propose and would like to do in certain windows.
‘We’re very, very realistic about where we are as a football club and where we are as a league and in terms of some of the other clubs, especially the ones coming down from the Premier League with parachute payments.
‘With that in mind, though, I think we’ll be in a good position.’
January transfer business to be detailed next month
Though the meeting with Eisners and the key players at Pompey proved fruitful, Mousinho explained the minutiae of January transfer business wasn’t put in place.
That’s because of the fluid nature of the football season and impact it could have on the Blues’ squad, with the head coach citing the left-back scenario as an example.
He added: ‘We’re actually not in a position for us to go to the Eisners and say this is exactly what we need, this is exactly how much we need and the players we want.
‘That will become a lot clearer the closer we get to January, so we’ll have a good idea of what that looks like on January 1 and as the window starts to develop.
‘That’s as it was last year when we knew we needed to bring in a centre-half quickly, we managed to do that in Rob Atkinson.
‘Where we are at the moment is we have a lot of games to play between now and then.
‘We have some areas we do feel we need to strengthen, but with some players returning if we do get a couple of players back to full fitness it’s not something we may necessarily need to do. That seems to be the case for the entire squad.
‘If you’d asked me three weeks ago if we’d have been recruiting a left-back in January the answer would have been no. The answer still isn’t a definitive yes because we’ll see how ‘Connor settles down and if Jacob comes back and is available.
‘But we will review the position at the end of December. Once we’ve done that internally at the club, we will then go back to Eisners and speak to them about.
‘So it’s a much more fluid situation then us sitting down in November and saying “this is exactly what we need - can we have it or can’t we have it?” It’s just not that simple.’