What Jamal Lowe Pompey transfer talk tells us as position over move for Sheffield Wednesday man becomes clear
The Sheffield Wednesday man was linked with a Pompey homecoming today, but the reaction to the League Two title winner returning was a little different to what was expected.
It’s a romantic transfer notion which lasted less than three hours.
A Jamal Lowe homecoming burst out of the summer quiet, in a first section of the window which is shaping up to be as tame as the noises being made before June 1 had indicated.
And that’s not just for Pompey but the Championship as a whole, with business amounting to a full-back and what looks like a back-up keeper before a couple of deals got over the line today.
So the transfer gossip looked a tasty morsel for supporters to feast on, in a period which is a long way off previous years in terms of the volume of names emerging.
In situations as with Lowe today, The News are duty-bound to report the story for what it is to us at that stage - gossip - and then use our own contacts to establish its veracity. That was something we did successfully on Friday lunchtime, as the BBC’s Andy Moon was doing likewise and knocking down any suggestion a deal was in the offing.
Yet, between the name surfacing and then being ruled out, it was the reaction from a fanbase hungry for transfer action which was most revealing.
When it comes to the prospect of former heroes returning to their old stomping ground, this is the kind of link large sections of the Fratton Faithful have lapped up in transfer windows past.
And there was certainly that presence, too, for a player who has evolved into a more versatile attacking option from the one who thrilled from the flank at PO4.
But there was also a very significant element who were suggesting this was not the kind of move Pompey’s football operation should be looking to, with squad surgery very much on the agenda in forward areas this summer.
That was a slight surprise from this observer’s position, and clearly points towards an evolution of what is floating fans’ transfer target boat for a second Championship campaign.
Perhaps it’s the fact that the 22-year-old who arrived with such vibrancy at the end of the 2016 has now tipped into his 30s.
The reality is, even at club teetering on the financial precipice like Sheffield Wednesday, the money it would take Pompey to land Lowe this summer is likely going to be spent on an asset with fewer miles on the clock.
Maybe it’s an acceptance the wages to cover a Fratton return for the immensely likeable figure may stretch the existing structure in place too far.
Or it could simply be that Lowe’s most recent numbers are a distance short of those which convinced Wigan to pay north of £2m for his services in 2018.
Perhaps the last time we’ll see Jamal Lowe Pompey talk
Last season it was three goals and two assists for the Owls, with previous campaigns with Swansea (nine goals, three assists) and QPR (three goals, two assists).
For the record, this observer could see the benefits to Lowe being back in royal blue.
Without being privy to his wage slip, though, it’s clear a free transfer from the Premier League to Hillsborough would bring earning power which was beyond Pompey a year ago.
Likewise, would the current football operation see the requisite value in pursuing a deal now? Well, we probably knew the answer before we definitively knew the answer.
So we can put the Jamal Lowe homecoming story to bed for another summer. Perhaps, all things considered, it may be the last time we see it.