Meet Portsmouth's fair dinkum Aussie with 'English accent', an Essex mother and Carlisle grandparents

Now the 23-year-old striker has swapped Adelaide for a new life in the land of his forefathers, grandparents and mother.

No wonder his accent has confused his peers over the years.

With a mother from Chelmsford and grandparents Heather and Ken hailing from Carlisle, perhaps it was fitting that the next stage of Yengi’s career would involve England.

After all, younger brother Tete had already made the move, joining Ipswich in October 2021 from Newcastle Jets.

With interest from Singapore, Dubai, Turkey and France this summer, there was plenty of interest in Kusini as he sought a fresh challenge away from Western Sydney Wanderers

Yet it was Pompey and the opportunity to test himself in League One which won the day, signing for an undisclosed fee.

Time to adjust to new surroundings, although he’s having a little trouble understanding some of those accents.

Yengi told The News: ‘It’s really strange because, when I’m in Australia, I get told all the time that I sound like I have an English accent.

‘I’ve come over here and I don’t sound like I’ve got an English accent at all. I am actually struggling to understand some of the boys here, some of the Irish lads, I’m constantly saying “Pardon? What did you say?”!

‘My grandmother is from Carlisle and has a really thick English accent. My mum was born in Chelmsford and grew up in Carlisle, but they all moved to Australia when my grandfather got a job, with my mum aged eight.

‘In the Ashes, my grandmother doesn’t go for Australia at all, she’s still a proud English woman with Union Jacks all over the house. She doesn’t support any Australian teams, only English.

‘Anyone representing Great Britain, she’s cheering them on. If Aussies win against an Englishman, she screws her face up and isn’t very happy.

‘I have a few aunties and uncles who live in Sunderland and an aunt that lives in London. My brother has been over here for a time too, being with QPR. My father is from South Sudan and obviously doesn't have an Aussie accent.

‘Australia is quite multicultural and I didn’t grow up in Adelaide with too many True Blue Aussies, so maybe I get a bit of a different accent from my family. I am an Aussie, though!’

Following time required to acclimatise to pre-season training and then an injury sustained in training, Yengi’s match-day entrance was initially delayed.

He finally was handed a first outing in the behind-closed-doors friendly with Crawley, coming off the bench in the 74th minute.

The striker subsequently netted a 22-minute hat-trick as the Blues rattled up a 9-1 success over their League Two opponents.

He has since turned out against AFC Wimbledon, while earned a maiden Fratton Park outing for the final 27 minutes of Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Bristol City.

Now he’s relishing the start of competitive action, with the League One curtain-raiser against Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

Yengi added: ‘Ever since I started playing professionally, I’ve had people tell me I’d be perfect in England.

‘It’s my physicality and playing style, I am quite a tall lad, and I’ve always had at the back of my mind to go to Europe, I didn’t know exactly where.

‘I watched my little brother play a bit last year on loan at Northampton in League Two and would see long balls going over the top, so I wasn’t too keen on England at the start. That’s now how I want to play.

‘But after speaking with John (Mousinho) and the staff, he explained how he wanted to play, while I saw some footage of how the team performed last season. I wasn’t really seeing any long balls, it was organised and a good style of play – and that sold me.

‘I don’t mind playing the long ball, when you’re a number nine as long as the ball gets to you somehow, then it doesn’t really bother me.

‘I have a bit of a physical presence and like to engage, tussle and battle with defenders. Hopefully the Pompey fans will be seeing plenty of that.’