‘A really sensible, calculated gamble’: Intriguing Sunderland verdict over Portsmouth new-boy Aji Alese
Sunderland’s Aji Alese became Pompey’s fourth signing of the January transfer window on Thursday.
Pompey have taken a sensible, calculated gamble by recruiting Aji Alese.
That’s the verdict of Sunderland Writer Phil Smith from our sister paper the Sunderland Echo, who believes the Blues have signed an exceptional Championship defender - should he stay fit.
Alese makes the move to the south coast on a loan deal for the remainder of the campaign as he targets a return to full fitness having missed 12 months of action after suffering a broken leg in January 2025. .
The centre-back has, though, had a stop-start stint at the Stadium of Light, with injuries limiting him to 46 senior outings during a three-and-a-half-year stay in the north east.
But should he stay fit, Smith is adamant the former West Ham man has the quality to be playing at a higher level than a Championship survival battle.
Exciting Sunderland verdict over new Pompey man
The Sunderland Writer told The News on the latest edition of Pompey Talk: ‘A good one if he can stay fit he would probably be how I would summarise it.
‘He hasn’t had the career he’d want at Sunderland so far because of availability rather than ability. He’s a really, really good Championship defender in that he’s intelligent and that he’s got really good physical attributes.
‘He’s got a hell of a leap on him, he’s very good in the air, he can get up and down the pitch, a really good athlete. He’s a really good character as well, anyone that you speak to will only have nice things to say about Aji, really down to earth, humble guy.
‘Very studious, thinks a lot about his games so it has the potential to be a really good addition for Portsmouth.
‘The obvious caveat being that it does depend on his availability between now and the end of the season.
‘I would probably suggest, were he fully fit and being able to play 46 games, I don’t think he’d be going to a team fighting for it’s life at the bottom of the Championship.
‘When I heard it, my first thought was that this is a really sensible, calculated gamble by Pompey.
‘He’s had some really good spells in the Sunderland team over the course of the time he's been here.
‘Although it could only have been four or five games at the start of last season before he picked up an injury when Regis Le Bris first came in, he actually started the season at centre-half and had a really good run.
‘From memory, they definitely didn’t concede in their first three games of the season; it might even have gone on longer. But Aji was a really important part of that before he picked up an injury.
‘There’s absolutely no doubt about Aji’s ability at this level whatsoever as I say it’s just a question of if he can get fit and stay full fit.’
Aji Alese fitness latest after serious injury
Alese has registered just two appearances for the Black Cats U21s in the Premier League as his return to fill fitness continues.
And Smith has lifted the lid on the defender’s current situation as he gears up for a pulsating second-half of the season at Fratton Park.
He added: ‘It’s difficult to tell because we’ve only seen him a couple of times in the U21s when he looked good and when he looked fit.
‘He’s been on the comeback trail for quite a while so that injury - a really serious injury last January - he was starting to come back towards training quite a few months ago but he just had a few little setbacks, which is not uncommon when you come back from an injury of that severity.
‘It’s not as if he’s only just come back to training and only been playing U21s, he has been on the comeback trail for a little period of time.
‘His base fitness should be really good, which is why I assume Portsmouth have decided they are happy to take a little bit of a risk. Match fitness and Championship intensity, it might take him a little bit of time but he is fit and ready to go.
‘It’s not one where I think it’ll take him ages to get up to speed but realistically he’s not going to be at his best on his first appearance.’
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