Paraguay World Cup disappointment for Gustavo Caballero - and it’s good news for Portsmouth
It wasn’t the night the Santos loanee had dreamed of at the World Cup - but that may not be bad news for Pompey.
Gustavo Caballero suffered heartache as Paraguay were humbled in their World Cup opener.
But that could well be good news for Pompey, as the Santos loanee was forced to look on as his country were thrashed 4-1 by USA.
Caballero overlooked by Paraguay, as Santos hope World Cup will drive up value
Caballero was left on the bench in Los Angeles in the early hours of this morning, as Gustavo Alfaro’s team were put to the sword by Mauricio Pochettino's men.
It was a blow for the man who spent the second half of last term at Fratton Park, with the 25-year-old touted to start the match in the Paraguayan media this week.
That’s after Caballero was brought into the starting line-up in training ahead of last night’s Group D curtain-raiser, with star man Julio Enciso injured against Nicaragua in Paraguay’s final warm-up last week.
In the event the former Brighton man was deemed fit enough to start, with former Newcastle United man Miguel Almiron playing on the left flank where Caballero was being touted to operate.
It proved a chastening experience for Los Albirroja, however, with the US racing into a 3-0 lead in the first half. Sub Mauricio pulled a goal back, but Giovanni Reyna’s classy late finish made it an emphatic scoreline as the host nation picked up their biggest World Cup win.
It was a disappointing outcome for Paraguay, who now have games against Turkey on June 19 and Australia on June 25 to turn their fortunes around.
But for Pompey it may not be bad news, especially with Caballero’s expected playing time not materialising.
The Blues remain interested in signing the winger this summer, but passed up on an opportunity to land the former Nacional Asuncion man on a fixed £2.5m deal - with that option expiring.
Boss John Mousinho has made it clear he’d like to see Caballero move to Fratton Park permanently, but a deal would have to be done at a price Pompey view as good value for the player.
The player’s parent club are keeping their options open over his future and have yet to decide if he can leave permanently, according to RTI Esporte.
Santos are hopeing, however a strong World Cup from Caballero will drive up his market value, with sides in Championship and Scotland keen on the player.
If Pompey are to further their interest, they’ll likely be hoping for minimal World Cup involvement for the man who picked up the first of his two international caps in March.
Mousinho spoke about the picture over a permanent deal for Caballero at the end of April, while making it clear he wants to sign the January arrival.
He said: ‘Everything is considered when deciding whether to buy Gustavo.
‘Cost, performance, injuries and strategy around what we would do elsewhere. If that money goes into signing him, what do we give up in terms of other players we could possibly bring into that position and other players we could bring into the squad?
‘He fares pretty well on performance and pretty well on injury, apart from the fact he’s injured at the minute, but it’s not a disastrous one.
‘The big question will be on that price point and whether we think that’s a fair reflection of what we believe the market value is. To be honest, in terms of Gus, we’ll see what happens in the summer and look to try to negotiate that.
‘The fixed transfer fee and the option is what it is, but that doesn't mean it’s the only price we could possibly pay. Obviously we could put in any offer at any time.
‘So the only offer we would ever put in is what we value Gus at. By the way, I don’t know what that is, we haven’t had the conversation yet.
‘I think he is well-suited to the Championship because of his athleticism, the fact he runs, he’s exciting, he gets bums off seats. He is the type of right winger we really like.
‘It’s not a difficult decision, we want to pursue it. It won’t be about what we can afford as a club, though, it will be about what we value him as a player and whether that matches Santos' valuation.’