Portsmouth transfer news: CEO Andy Cullen delivers boost to fans patiently waiting first signing of summer
Andy Cullen has given an indication of the level Pompey are currently operating at transfer-wise this summer
Andy Cullen has provded Pompey fans with an encouraging glimpse of what they can expect from the Blues during the current transfer window.
Already, so much has been about this summer’s impending business after the Blues successfully navigated their way out of Championship relegation trouble at the end of last season.
An increased playing budget was very much in demand when John Mousinho & Co pulled the curtain down on another tumultuous campaign that tested everyone’s nerve.
And since then fans have been looking for clues to determine whether the head coach’s wishes had been heard.
The fact Pompey have been linked with the likes of €5m-rated striker Marko Milovanovic and €3.5m-rated midfielder Rocco Shein while reportedly biding £1.3m for Hungarian Mate Tuboly in recent days has given the Fratton faithful hope that owners Tornante have been listening. Highly-rated under contract Plymouth striker Bim Pepple also remains on the Blues’ wanted list.
Now chief executive Cullen has given an indication of the level of spending the Blues will aim to conduct this summer in an interview with BBC Radio Solent.
Pompey ‘looking at a different market’
In the past three summer transfer windows, Pompey had already announced signings at this stage of the trading period
The 2023 summer transfer window saw free-agents Will Norris, Conor Shaughnessy, Ben Steven and Jack Sparkes arrive in the opening weeks, alongside Christian Saydee, Terry Devlin and Anthony Scully for relatively small undisclosed fees.
By this stage in 2024, freebies Jordan Williams, Josh Murphy and Jordan Archer had already been signed, sealed and delivered.
Meanwhile, Adrian Segecic arrived on June 18 last summer after a nominal fee with Sydney FC was agreed.
Despite reports of an interest in former Peterborough midfielder Archie Collins, no such arrivals have been announced this year to date, with the transfer window entering its third week on Monday.
However, Cullen believes there’s a good reason for that - namely, the level the Blues are operating at this summer as they look to improve on last season’s 18th placed finish in the Championship.
Speaking to Solent’s Andy Moon, Cullen said: ‘I think two or three years ago, the first part of the summer, we were able to make quite a few signings early on.
‘But they were mainly all sort of free contract players, out-of-contract players. And the type of players we're looking at at the moment are probably in a different bracket, so (there’s) not a lot of out-of-contract players available in the Championship.
‘And certainly we feel if we're going to improve the squad, we're going to invest more in the squad, then we're looking at a different market than perhaps we have been in previous years.’
‘Making good progress’
Volendam midfielder Gibson Yah was a player Pompey had high hopes of signing this summer. Yet after progressing to advanced talks with the player’s representatives and his Dutch club, that fell through. Yah has also subsequently signed for Championship rivals Bistol City.
Despite that setback, Cullen remains positive that all the hard work going on behind the scenes will pay off soon.
He added: (We’ve been making) really good progress. I think everybody would love to see, you know, a signing come in on first day as the window opens, but football doesn't work like that .
‘We know which positions we want to recruit in. We've got quite a bit of work to do over the course of the summer, so we're very, very focused on those.
‘We've made good progress with discussions with individual clubs where we may be seeking to pay transfer fees, and we're also in discussions with players as well where we have permission to do so. (So we're in a good place in terms of making good progress.’