'A bright future': John Mousinho addresses Portsmouth chances of signing impressive Manchester United man

Ultimately, though, it’s Manchester United who will dictate the powerful defender’s future.

The Blues want to keep the 22-year-old permanently, having caught the eye during a nine-game loan spell.

Crucially, United hold an option on a player whose contract expires this summer and has featured just once for them competitively.

The situation means Mousinho must wait patiently to discover the Premier League giants’ intentions for Bernard before pursuing one of their leading transfer targets.

But the head coach remains optimistic the Blues can find a way to bring the ex-Hull loanee back to Fratton Park.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Firstly, Manchester United have the option on him, so we’ll see what they want to do and then go from there.

‘My gut feeling on him is positive, but he's a Manchester United player at the moment and, if they take his contract up, it's a very different situation from if they don’t.

‘We’ll have to have a look at that, see what they do, and get in touch with them over the next couple of weeks.

‘It has been really important seeing Di’Shon starting in the team over the last four matches. He’s versatile, has played right-back and in both centre-half positions, performing really well in all three of those slots.

‘There's a huge amount of improvement within him. What’s Di’Shon’s ceiling? It's hard to tell, but he is right up there in terms of where he can go.

‘These are very, very exciting times for him, regardless of where he is.

‘His loan has been positive and, although he might not feel like that because he hasn’t played as many games as he’d like, to perform as well as he has done over the last four matches is a huge reflection on him. He has a bright future.

‘I don’t know if Di’Shon wants to stay, I will speak to him this week, but I’d like to think he knows the demands we put on him and the way we want to play suits him.’

Undoubtedly there have been frustrating times for Bernard at Pompey since his January arrival from Old Trafford.

Initially operating as a right-back, he started twice, yet until April was largely forced to watch from the bench as Sean Raggett and Ryley Towler dominated the central-defensive partnership.

However, Mousinho’s desire to see Bernard in his natural right-sided centre-half role saw him replace Raggett for the final four matches.

And the former Chelsea Academy player flourished.

He added: ‘Di’Shon was excellent against Wycombe on Sunday, dealing with a Premier League centre-forward in Sam Vokes.

‘It was a tough, physical task and he has been really impressive during his time with us – and unlucky that Sean Raggett has been playing so well.’