Wright: Durin arrival shows Pompey owners' ambition Â

Petar Durin's recruitment reflects the ambition of Pompey's owners.
New Pompey recruit Petar DurinNew Pompey recruit Petar Durin
New Pompey recruit Petar Durin

That's the verdict of Dave Wright, following this week's signing of the Croatian under-18 international for an undisclosed fee.

The towering 17-year-old impressed during a week's stay at Fratton Park, which included an Academy friendly outing against Woking.

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With two international keepers ahead of him at Atalanta, Durin was keen for a fresh challenge away from the Italian game.

New Pompey recruit Petar DurinNew Pompey recruit Petar Durin
New Pompey recruit Petar Durin

That brought him to the attention of Pompey, who employ a European scout, overseen by Wright as head of Academy performance and recruitment.

And Wright has praised Tornante's willingness to invest in recruiting youth talent for Pompey.

He said: '˜It's part of the vision of the owners, they want to invest in the Academy.

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'˜They see young players as an integral part moving forward '“ and it's the first indication they will support and back us.

'˜The recruitment world is word of mouth and contacts, linking with people you know.

'˜We have a European scout who brought the player to our attention and then things went from there. Atalanta kindly allowed us to have him for a week, spending a lot of time with our goalkeeping coach John Keeley, but it was within hours rather than days when it was decided he had the right attributes.

'˜The key word with Petar is potential. He is still very young and has a lot of development left to go, but we feel potentially he can develop into a very, very good keeper.

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'˜For me, his technical ability stands out. He can deal with the ball at his feet, has a nice size and shape, his personality is good you can see he wants to learn and improve.

'˜Once he develops and gets stronger, we feel there's a top keeper there.'

Instantly there is a comparison with Asmir Begovic, who arrived at Fratton in 2003 as a 15-year-old from Canada.

He was sold to Stoke in February 2010 for £3.25m.

Wright added: '˜We cannot remember the last time the club invested in an Academy player.

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'˜That's the point of me coming in and the direction the owners feel is important.

'˜We have our own players in the system.

'˜But if there are those outside we feel can add to us, then we'll do it.'