How Portsmouth fans made Twitter trend top 20 with calls for former Fratton favourite and Millwall midfielder Ben Thompson's return

And the subject of the clamour, I hear you ask?

Well, who else, but Ben Thompson – ensuring the double signing of goalkeeper Ollie Webber from Crystal Palace and Sunderland left-back Denver Hume (Sunderland) was quickly overshadowed!

The out-of-favour Millwall midfielder is clearly still highly regarded in these parts, with huge admiration gained during his short spell at Fratton Park over the first half of the 2018-19 League One campaign.

And with Danny Cowley potentially in the market for a new midfielder after Ryan Tunnicliffe’s latest injury setback, many believe a Thompson reunion is a must between now and the end of the January transfer window closing on Monday night.

Indeed, calls from the Fratton faithful loomed so large, they sent the social media website into a frenzy.

With countless tweets posted within an hour on Wednesday afternoon, the midfielder’s name took it’s place among the top 20 trending topics in the UK.

And Pompey Twitter users were relentless in their pursuit of the 26-year-old, even ensuring that director Eric Eisner was being kept in the loop as posts were sent to him after his use of social media to welcome Hume’s arrival and the club’s sponsorship deal with the Cayman Islands.

Here’s a selection of some of the tweets published.

@HarvMarksy wrote: Do you reckon Ben Thompson knows how much he’s loved here? Must think we’re all a bunch of freaks, which we are.

@adammurphy97 posted: Ben Thompson rotting away in Millwall U23. It’s beyond me why we aren’t throwing the kitchen sink at getting the lad on a permanent deal.

@Jake_PFC commented: Has to go down as our best January window in years, add Ben Thompson and a striker to the mix and you have a window we’ll struggle to beat again.

@StephenHillBoy joked: Just seen Ben Thompson jump off the hovercraft from the Isle of Wight, he was wearing a #Pompey away kit from 94/95 with Durnin on the back, ran into Clarence Pier ordered a Wimpy breakfast, hopped on the dodgems & was singing “HE’S ONLY A POOR LITTLE SCUMMER!” Announcement at 10!

In the hope that Pompey would take notice, @McgrealDeclan wrote: The more we tweet about Ben Thompson the more likely it will happen #believe #pompey.

@PeterSavage_32 continued the theme by saying: As a pup fan we'd rather sign Ben Thompson than messi, get it done #pup

Meanwhile, @ClemFF3Day simply said: 1117 of missing Ben Thompson.

In fairness to the Fratton faithful, hope has been raised as Thompson has also done little to down play rumours of a Pompey return and was spotted at the Blues’ victory over Gillingham in November.

If he remains at Millwall this month, he is likely to be available on a free transfer at the end of the season after falling down the pecking order under manager Gary Rowett.

The 26-year-old has primarily played for the Lions’ under-23s this season as he attempts to maintain his match sharpness.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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