'He's a Championship player in League One': Portsmouth boss relishing the chance to unleash former Cardiff, Hull and Oxford man on rivals

And he is relishing unleashing ‘marquee signing’ Gavin Whyte on League One to drive the Blues’ promotion ambition.

The Northern Ireland international is a former Oxford United team-mate of Pompey’s head coach, playing alongside each other during two Kassam Stadium spells.

Now Mousinho has been reunited with the 27-year-old once more, albeit this time as the Blues’ boss, and has earmarked the attacker for a right-wing role.

Whyte made 45 Championship appearances for Cardiff before moving to Pompey on Friday – and Mousinho cannot wait to survey the damage the Irishman is capable of inflicting on League One.

He told The News: ‘The goal for Gav – and for us – is for him to become a Championship player with Pompey.

‘We need to get him back there, he needs to get himself back there as well, and he definitely has the ability to do that, without doubt. We have got to get him playing his best football again.

‘He has done that in spells over the last four years, but maybe not consistently enough and not necessarily through any fault of his own.

‘That’s certainly the challenge here and hopefully one of the reasons that attracted him to the football club was myself because I know him really well and what makes him tick.

‘If he enjoys his football, he’ll bring a huge amount of talent to the side – and possesses ability which, in our opinion, should be beyond this level.

‘I see Gav as a Championship player, absolutely, and we are thrilled to have him.

‘There’s a reason why Cardiff paid a lot of money to get him and why he has played 30 times for Northern Ireland. There’s a reason why there’s a lot of excitement around the signing because of how he is and how good he can be.

‘This is a marquee signing, someone coming down with that Championship pedigree. If you had told me four years ago that you’re going to have the chance to sign Gavin Whyte, I’d be delighted.’

Whyte joins fellow new recruit Anthony Scully and Paddy Lane as Pompey’s wing options in the season ahead.

And Mousinho believes the former Hull loanee brings a different attacking dimension to his squad.

He added: ‘He’s direct, he’s pacy, he’s much more of a winger than a wide midfield player.

‘I would describe Anthony Scully as a wide man that likes to come and play inside, whereas Gav is an out-and-out winger with real pace, who likes to get to the byline and likes to take the full-backs on.

‘Technically, he is very tidy as well, he can make things happen in small spaces, but the majority of the time he'll be operating out wide and getting chalk on his boots.

‘Gav is right footed and can play anywhere across the front three, including as a 10. He once even scored a hat-trick away at Shrewsbury (April 2019) as a nine during his first spell at Oxford, although I don’t think that’s his best position.

‘He’s either wide left or wide right, and played quite a lot as a 10 as well, which is important versatility.’