Transfer latest: Portsmouth defender’s future in balance as clubs circle at window’s climax
The transfer latest from John Mousinho over the Aussie left-back amid League One, SPL, Danish Superliga and A-League interest.
John Mousinho has indicated Jacob Farrell’s immediate future could yet lie at Pompey with sides vying to bring in the defender.
But the Blues boss acknowledged his club have to work out the best way to ‘maximise’ their asset, as they look to get the Aussie’s career motoring again.
League One, SPL, Danish Superliga and A-League interest in Farrell
Farrell’s pathway is under the microscope as the January transfer window reaches its conclusion, with the 23-year-old back in contention after an injury-ravaged Fratton stay.
The News understands there’s a stack of sides keen to take the Central Coast Mariners signing on loan, with interest from League One, Scottish Premier League, Australia and Denmark.
Farrell got his first league minutes in 17 months off the bench at Watford last week, after dealing with knee and groin problems in his time at PO4.
The left-back looked bright in his Vicarage Road cameo, as his club now have to decide how things pan out for him before the close of play on February 2.
The big concern for Pompey and Mousinho is their volume of injuries, with Regan Poole’s latest setback making it 11 players currently sidelined.
The head coach feels he has to guard against leaving his squad exposed amid those problems, while not blocking the development of a player who still has two-and-a-half years to run on his contract.
Mousinho on Farrell: About trying to ‘maximise asset for football club’
Mousinho said: ‘Watford was Faz’s first league game since September 2024, that’s a huge amount of football to miss for someone we’re considering a loan for earlier in the window.
‘That’s something we’ve spoken about, but we said that’s something that can’t happen because we need him now. I wasn’t lying when I said that.
‘We needed him the other night, he was very close to coming on against Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton.
‘I was really pleased he got some minutes against Watford. He’s a good player, it’s just about getting him some game time really and trying to maximise that asset for us as a football club. We need to do that the best way we can, because he’s missed so much football.
‘For us, there’s a scenario where Faz stays in and impacts the side for the rest of the season. We’ll have to see.
‘We’ve seen Jacob once in the league, I thought he played really well against Sheffield United.
‘But it was such a long time ago and he’s had so many injuries since, it’s difficult to know what you’re going to get when he comes back into a different type of team and league that’s increasing in intensity - but I thought he did very well at Watford.
‘Hopefully he knows now we trust him to go on in a big game and big situation for us, he’s shown he can step up and produce.’