BREAKING: Portsmouth eye ex-Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur pair as they weigh up plundering League One rivals

The News understands Blues boss Danny Cowley is keen on U’s pair Shilow Tracey and Harvey Knibbs as the transfer window nears a climax.

The duo are among a promising group of forward players owned by Pompey's League One rivals.

Tracey impressed, despite his side falling to a 4-1 reverse at Fratton Park, showing the kind of pace and direct threat Cowley still feels is required going forward.

The former Spurs man also offers the versatility the Pompey boss is looking for and has operated in a number of attacking positions for his side.

The same can be said of Knibbs, although he has tended to operate more centrally for Cambridge with Tracey gravitating to the right.

The ex-Aston Villa man grabbed nine goals for his side in two of his previous three campaigns, while Tracey returned three goals last season as he spent two months sidelined with an ankle injury.

Pompey have also been linked with Cambridge’s Sam Smith this summer, although that notion was emphatically shot down by Cowley.

The Blues boss spent a long period deep in conversation with U’s sporting director Ben Strang, after their two sides’ clash, however.

Pompey now appear to be moving away from Ephron Mason Clark after chasing the Barnet man over recent weeks.

Cowley is clear he wants another addition up front, however, with the ability to slot into a variety of attacking areas desired.

Pompey have landed 11 players so far this summer with Joe Pigott, Dane Scarlett, Colby Bishop and Owen Dale bolstering the attacking department to date.

Cowley said: ‘We’re getting towards where we want to be.

‘We’d like to bring in an eighth attacking player, that would be really important to us. We have to see if that is possible.

‘We want them to be like an iPhone 13. When we were young you used to have a Walkman, a camera and a phone. Now you get an iPhone 13.

‘So I want an iPhone 13 - one who can do a bit of everything!

‘We got seven attacking players, that’s what I see.

‘We’ve got three forwards and four wingers.

‘Ronan (Curtis) can do both in my opinion and showed that against Cambridge, but, yes we’d like an eighth attacking player.’