Exclusive:Portsmouth defender moves towards Fratton exit amid flurry of interest
A Pompey transfer update today with teams in England, Australia, Europe and MLS eyeing defender who can leave PO4 this summer.
Jacob Farrell’s Pompey career appears to be heading towards a close.
The Blues are ready to listen to offers for the left-back this summer, amid a difficult stay in English football.
Farrell can go this summer with MLS, A-League, European and English interest
And there looks to be a number of potential options to action Farrell’s exit from PO4, with the 23-year-old still having two years on his contract.
Clubs in Australia, England, Europe and MLS have all shown interest in the man who’s spent time with Western Sydney Wanderers over the second half of the campaign.
Farrell made a Championship cameo at Watford before his exit, going on to make seven appearances in the A-League largely as a central defender.
The former Central Coast Mariners man saw his season curtailed by a groin issue leading to surgery, which went successfully.
There is confidence that has dealt with a problem which hindered Farrell’s second season in English football, after returning last summer and impressing across pre-season.
The Gosford talent has also endured a knee issue in his time with Pompey, with his first term in the Championship seeing a single appearance arrive.
With Farrell having a couple of years to run on his existing agreement the Blues will be able to command a fee for the player, but there is a willingness from the football operation to find the Socceroos under-23 international a new home to kickstart his career.
The current plan, however, will be for Farrell to ensure he’s ready to return for training next month and build a bank of fitness in pre-season.
That will then create a pathway for the player to consider his options, though Farrell did speak about fighting for his Fratton future in a February interview after his temporary exit.
He said then: ‘It’s good to be back playing again.
‘I haven’t played too much football recently, so I’m just happy to be back out on the field. I’m just happy to be playing.
‘They (Pompey) just want to get me minutes and that was hard for that to happen there, with injuries and the tough schedule.
‘So they’ve just told me to come here, get some minutes and hopefully go back there next pre-season ready to fight for my spot.’
Farrell departing would leave Connor Ogilvie as Pompey’s only left-back option and likely put a new recruit in that department on the football operation’s transfer radar this summer.
Pompey boss John Mousinho is expecting a busy period of recruitment ahead, with the transfer window opening on June 15.
He told The News this week: ‘I know it’s really vague, I can’t sit here and talk about discussions with owners and strategy in the future without admitting we do need to figure out what we want to do with the squad.
‘We’ve got five loans going back, which obviously opens up space in the squad. We are going to have some players who move on, we’re going to have to see what happens with out-of-contract players as well, so naturally there’s movement there.
‘And there is going to be some movement on top of that as well with players that might go on loan, players that might move on, if we lose Terry for example.
‘Straight away there’s space for five plus any out of contract who don’t sign, plus 2-3 that move on - and that’s without looking at other areas for improvement. So it’s probably a busy summer again.
‘I don’t know what the number is because myself and Rich are having conversations about
players, but we’re going to move on very quickly now the season has ended in terms of what we’re going to do in the summer.
‘When you’ve spent your first couple of years in the Championship, hopefully there’s going to be a lot more turnover than when things do settle down - and we want to get to a stage where the windows aren't quite as busy.’