The transfer developments showing Portsmouth mean business this summer
The transfer news has accelerated in recent days and now there are signs for the Fratton Faithful over where things are headed in the Championship.
It’s been a summer of relatively few names when it comes to Pompey and the transfer gossip columns.
And when assessing the linked players touted for arrivals at Fratton Park, even fewer have stood up to inspection regarding their credibility.
Marezi deal offers cast-iron evidence of willingness to push up Championship
A procession of ‘targets’ peddled by agents keen to generate noise around their clients had been the hallmark of the first 10-12 players mentioned in the same breath as Pompey’s.
Likewise, the calibre of those being touted for moves to PO4 has underwhelmed. Until now.
It was 12 days ago Gibson Yah surfaced, a rare name with a ring of transfer authenticity among the transfer duds with Pompey said to be in ‘advanced talks’ for the Volendam man.
There may not have been a significant transfer fee, but some homework on the destructive midfielder offered some tasty morsels and hope for a player chiming with the needs of the Championship.
Things have not progressed on that front, as issues have surfaced in discussions - and those stumbling blocks have not yet been hurdled.
Hungarian Mate Tuboly was next up with talk of a £1.3m move for the DAC Dunajska Streda man, with Pompey known to be targeting a midfielder with his craft this summer.
However, things have really accelerated over the past couple of days as unanswered questions hang over the Blues’ transfer intent for the summer window.
Archie Collins is a free agent being touted to join Pompey by our sister title the Peterborough Telegraph.
A move to Fratton Park is believed to be the preference of the 26-year-old, with Leicester City, Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford United the other clubs named.
Then The News last night reported the latest transfer developments regarding continuing interest in Luke Graham, with a £1.5m fee the likely minimum requirement to fend off Championship rivals and Scottish giants Rangers for the long-admired defender.
Expect news on that over the next week, but a deal for the rising star would equal the £1.5m paid for Erik Huseklepp 15 years ago - making it the most shelled out for a player since the Premier League era.
If that was to match that landmark, then a move for Marko ‘Marezi’ Milovanović would blow it away.
The £5.1m (€6m) figure reported is believed to be inflated, yet the opening bid believed to have been tabled to Spanish UD Almeria is still an incursion into the £2m-£5m category referenced by John Mousinho at the end of last season.
Furthermore, if Pompey hit the number believed necessary to advance the deal, it would represent them travelling a significant distance down that road.
With the player set on a move to Fratton and personal terms not believed to be an issue, it would offer some cast-iron evidence of a willingness to push up the Championship.
It would mean action to the rhetoric that Pompey really do mean business next season.