Latest: Portsmouth boss reveals Manchester United defender transfer latest as former Hull City man weighs up options

And it appears the Blues may have to play a waiting game, if their bid to bring in the Manchester United man is to prove successful.

Bernard remains on Pompey’s radar this summer, after a successful period on loan last term for the former Hull City loanee.

The 22-year-old has since gone away on international duty with Jamaica and has been named as part of their Concacaf Gold Cup squad, with the competition taking place in the USA and Canada.

The lines of communication are open, but Mousinho explained his international involvement will have an impact on advancing any move for Bernard.

The Londoner is also believed to want to keep his options open at present, after previously operating in the Championship.

Mousinho believes the fact he knows he’s valued at Pompey could work in their favour moving forward, however.

He said: ‘It’s logistics at the moment with Di’Shon, because he’s away and playing.

‘Communication is fine, but he’s away training every day. Jamaica played Qatar, then Jordan and then they are off to the Gold Cup.

‘It’s a bit different because the internationals for the Gold Cup run a lot longer than they do over here. It just makes logistics a little more difficult.

‘That (him wanting to keep his options open) is fine and that happens.

‘We thought Di’Shon was an outstanding performer, at the back end of last season in particular.

‘He came in from the cold for the MK and Oxford games, then settled into the side at the back end of the season.

‘I felt he did really well, but part of it is he hopefully knows he can play decent football here.

‘He knows what the environment is all about, but for both sides it’s an option we will explore. We’re just monitoring the situation and seeing how we get on with it.’

After bringing in Conor Shaughnessy, Pompey now have five options to call upon in the middle of the defence.

Sean Raggett is contracted next term along with Ryley Tower, while Haji Mnoga returns from a loan spell with Aldershot.

Meanwhile, Connor Ogilvie has shown he’s capable of moving insider from a left-back role.

Even with the interest in Bernard, Mousinho feels Pompey still have good cover in that area of the pitch.

He added: ‘We’re pretty happy with where we are at the moment.

‘We consider Connor to be a central half and we have Haji coming back in as well.

‘We have five centre-halves in the building, so we will see what that looks like and monitor a couple of situations that are ongoing.

‘But, at the minute, if we went into the season with that we wouldn’t be too displeased.’