'Explosive, direct and an unpredictable threat': Portsmouth's high hopes for ex-Crystal Palace talent

And Academy lead professional development phase coach Sam Hudson is convinced the Blues possess a player of exciting promise.

Operating on the left wing, Clout was the unlikely star of the Blues’ 3-0 friendly success at the Hawks last week, demonstrating an attacking directness and fearlessness which delighted those present.

He also shone the following day at Bognor, producing an eye-catching cameo off the bench in a 2-0 success.

The 17-year-old, who hails from the London area, only joined Pompey in the summer of 2023 after being rejected for a Selhurst Park scholarship.

And Hudson is delighted with Clout’s progress.

He told The News: ‘Harry has a real directness about him, an unpredictable threat where it’s quite difficult for his opposition number to know what he’s going to do. He has a little faint and a little stop-start as well.

‘The thing for him at the minute is we’re trying to refine him technically, make him more consistent. If he’s going to be off the left for the long-term, we’ll have to look at his crossing and his final ball.

‘But he’s really explosive and unpredictable, which as an attacker are two very important traits.

‘Harry was previously at Palace, not very long, he had quite a short Academy journey. He didn’t get offered a scholarship and came to us on trial at the end of the 2022-23 season - and I really liked what I saw.

‘There was a lot of rawness there, but a lot of directness, positive touches, one-v-one ability, dribbling combinations. He is predominantly left-footed as well, you don’t get left-footed attacking players in the pockets that often, particularly on a recruitment basis.

‘I thought Harry did well against Havant, he linked quite nicely with those about him, he made really positive runs and, almost every time he got the ball, wanted to play forward.

‘What I really liked is a lot of the first-team players trusted him with the ball, for a young player that isn’t always something which happens straight away.

‘Particularly the switches from right to left from Terry Devlin at right-back to Harry on the left, I thought they worked quite well. It allowed Harry to showcase some of his talents.’

With Pompey now looking to step up their pre-season schedule with matches at MK Dons and Charlton, the Fratton faithful may have seen the last of Clout for now.

Instead the youngster is likely to focus on Academy commitments, starting with Saturday’s trip to QPR in a friendly.

Hudson added: ‘We say to the young players that if you impress once, that then gets you on the radar, but you must keep impressing. If you continue doing that then you never know what your future could be.

‘Harry has impressed initially, but he’s got to continue that. You can do it on a one-off or a couple of weeks, but can you do it over the months and seasons?’