Portsmouth finally in 'important' position to take less 'gambles' in transfer window
Pompey have once again upped their playing budget this summer as they look to avoid a second successive Champiopnship relegation battle.
An improved Pompey playing budget will help negate some of the gambles the Blues have taken in the transfer market in recent years.
That’s the verdict of The News’ Jordan Cross, who believes risks have been taken in the past because of the club’s previous spending power.
Some of those gambles have, of course, paid off. Loanee Rob Atkinson was a huge success during his stint at Fratton Park over the second half of the 2024-25 season. A player of his calibre only became available, though, as he looked to recover from an ACL injury that had kept him sidelined for nearly two years.
Meanwhile, both Millenic Alli and Gustavo Caballero could be considered calculated risks after they arrived at Pompey last January without much game time at their previous clubs, and with the latter having never played outside South America before. Both players played important roles as the Blues retained their Championship status for another year.
But for every Atkinson, Alli or Caballero, there’s an Aji Alese, Abdoulaye Kamara or Franco Umeh, who have failed to repay the faith the Blues have shown in them.
In the case of Umeh, sporting director Rich Hughes admitted his arrival for £500,000 last summer might not had happened had it not been for his most recent injury record at Crystal Palace. He’s since made just two appearances for the Blues because of two separate hamstring injuries.
The 21-year-old has also sat out both of Pompey’s pre-season games to date because of injury.
Gambles like him could be a thing of the past going forward, though.
According to Cross, an increased playing budget - as highlighted by multi-million-pound moves for Rocco Shein and Marko Milovanovic - gives the Fratton Park side the ability to recruit from a better quality market.
Speaking in the latest episode of Pompey Talk, The News reporter said: ‘They (Pompey) had to kind of take gambles on players because of where they have been in terms of playing budget.
‘And this is quite an important point to make... Perhaps Pompey, now they move up the transfer pecking order in terms of fees, they negate some of the risks they've had to take in terms of signing players with question marks over them.
‘Franco Umeh signed with known injury issues around him, but Franco Umeh didn't have those question marks over him, he’d probably be a £5 million player.
‘That's where Pompey have been operating, so hopefully, moving forward, you can see some of that threat lessened or issues lessened with injuries by being in a different market and spending more money.’