Intriguing figure spotted at Fratton Park as Portsmouth unveil Adrian Segecic as first summer signing
Adrian Segecic became Pompey’s first signing of the summer on Wednesday after he joined the club from Sydney FC
The 21-year-old has made the move from Sydney FC, with John Mousinho’s men reaching a financial settlement over training compensation with the Sky Blues to secure the exciting attcking midfielder’s signature.
The Blues fended off strong interest in the highly-regarded Australia under-23 international, with clubs from Scotland, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Austria and the USA all keen on landing last season’s A-League joint-top scorer.
Segecic has put pen-to-paper on a three-year deal at Fratton Park and links up with former team-mate Hayden Matthews as well as fellow Aussies Jacob Farrell and Thomas Waddingham.
However, there was one interesting figure present at the attacking midfielder’s PO4 unveiling - and it, unsurprisingly, has got some supporters wondering why!
The surprise figure at Adrian Segecic’s Pompey unveiling
So who is this mysterious figure, I head you ask!
Well, it was Mark Robertson - the father of former Blues loanee and League One title-winner Alex Robertson, who, as we all know, moved to Cardiff City last summer.
Mark, who represented Australia at international level during his playing career, is now a freelance director of sports performance and has previously worked at the City Football Group as a sports specialist.
For some unknown reason, he was at Fratton Park on Wednesday evening and posed for a photo alongside Segecic following his signing. Accompanying the picture, which was uploaded onto X, were the words: ‘Just two randoms in Portsmouth.’
This has prompted some talk on social media from supporters, who are hoping it could result in son Alex returning to PO4 this summer. @debojono commented: ‘missing your boy Mark,’ while @zaksarge_ was clear by saying: ‘Bring Robbo back with him.’
@PFCJohnPomp added: ‘Your son made the wrong decision. His home is here.’
After an impressive loan stint at Fratton Park, Pompey were interested in re-signing the Manchester City talent on a permanent deal last summer.
Despite the Blues matching Cardiff’s offer, the 22-year-old would choose south Wales over a return to PO4. Indeed, the Etihad Stadium youth product would go on to feature 39 times for the Bluebirds, who finished bottom of the Championship last term.
John Mousinho on Alex Robertson snub
He told The News: ‘Players make decisions on all the facts they have in front of them. With the benefit of hindsight, you can look back and think about all of these things as a player and a club.
‘I have been in that situation as a player, you just don’t know. You make the decision based on all the factors in front of you.
‘We can say what you want about Alex, I know it wasn’t driven by finance, it wasn’t driven by money. I spoke to him about that, he was very, very honest with me about his expectations and where he wanted to go as a footballer.
‘Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.’
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