Portsmouth forward seals important loan move ahead of key summer decision on his future

Pompey youngster Destiny Ojo has found himself a new club.

Just a week after being recalled from his loan spell at Poole Town, the third-year scholar has sealed a similar move to Sholing, where he will link up with former Hawks boss Paul Doswell.

The Boatmen sit 12th in the Southern League Premier South – a place behind Matt Tubb’s Poole side, for whom the young forward scored six times and registered three assists before his Fratton Park recall.

The Blues Academy youngster saw his spell at Tatnam cut short as they looked to find him game time ahead of an important summer, when his Pompey future will be decided. He made 22 appearances for Poole, but only seven were starts.

He is one of three signings announced by Sholing on Friday. Welcoming the player to the club, Doswell said: ‘(Destiny is) a dynamic 19-year-old forward who was on loan at Poole Town this season, where he scored six goals and had three assists. I've been an admirer of Destiny for a while and I know that Poole were keen to keep him. It's a good signing for us and I'm grateful to Pompey Academy manager, Greg Miller, for his help.’

Ojo, who moved to the Blues from Lancing in 2022, is yet to make a senior appearance for Pompey. However, he netted in games against Gosport and the Hawks after being used by John Mousinho’s side in pre-season.

Mousinho told The News this week: ‘It’s just about game time for Destiny. It wouldn't have been a huge issue for us if he stayed at Poole, but we made the decision to recall him and then see if he can get a bit more game time elsewhere.

‘Poole have been pretty good this year, particularly since Matt (Tubbs) has gone in there. They have two really experienced centre-forwards at that level, so it was tough for Destiny to get in, but overall it has been a really good experience for him.

‘One of the reasons Sam Folarin went on loan there (Poole) and came back was because he wasn’t having the impact we would have liked him to have, but the fact Destiny stayed showed what they thought of him.

‘He has a lot of attributes and definitely has half a chance of making it.’