Player set for medical to join Pompey | £20m Middlesbrough star to play at Fratton Park | Hull City make £2m bid

Pompey are going through their final preparations for their EFL Championship match against Middlesbrough.

John Mousinho is looking for a response from his players after they fell to a 3-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers in midweek. Pompey dropped in to the relegation zone with both Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle picking up points.

Home is where Pompey have been the most comfortable this season, and they're unbeaten in their last five league matches in front of their own supporters. Middlesbrough on the other hand have drawn four of their last five matches, so they will want to find a find a winning formula soon.

It’s yet another busy week of Championship action with the transfer window going on in the background. Here’s the latest stories from around the division, which could affect Pompey.

Striker to undergo medical at Pompey

As first reported by The News, Pompey will wrap up the signing of striker Thomas Waddingham over the next couple of days. Pete O’Rourke said in a post on X that Waddingham was due to arrive in the United Kingdom on Thursday night.

He is to undergo a medical on Friday, as he finalises his move to Fratton Park. Pompey has beaten off reported competition from Sheffield Wednesday and QPR to land his signature.

Waddingham’s club manager Ruben Zadkovic said that Brisbane Roar had accepted an offer for him last week. It has since emerged that it was Pompey who were the club that were successful with their bid for him.

Pompey are getting a 19-year-old striker who has 11 goals and two assists in 34 games in the Australian top-flight. He wil be joining an Australian contingent that includes Kusin Yengi, and Jacob Farrell.

Whether the signing is completed in time for the weekend remains to be seen. In his pre-match press conference yesterday (Thursday) John Mousinho admitted he didn’t expect any signings before the game against Middlesbrough.

“I don’t think anything before Middlesbrough,” said Mousinho.

“I spoke to Rich after the game last night but we spoke about the game mainly. We’ll have a catch-up on recruitment this afternoon when we’ve got everything done after the post-match and the build-up to Middlesbrough today.

“It’s been one of those around those match days, where I take myself away from it. There’s been plenty that has gone on behind the scenes.

“I suspect by the time we get to Middlesbrough, it’ll be the same squad minus any injuries we’ve picked up.”

Hull City make £2m bid to Blackpool

Hull City is looking to bolster its frontline further by making a new offer for Blackpool’s Kyle Joseph. The Tigers recently signed Joe Gelhardt on a loan deal until the rest of the season, and have since moved on to Joseph.

Pete O’Rourke, a Football Insider transfer correspondent, said in a post on X Hull have made an improved bid for Joseph in the region of about £2m. Several earlier offers were rejected by the Seasiders who would be reluctant to sell their top scorer this season.

The 23-year-old has eight goals and three assists in 24 League One matches this term. His experience in the Championship is 10 appearances but no goals, though Hull would hope he would now be ready to make the step up.

Middlesbrough to play striker amid £20m trandfer talks

Pompey are set to come up against Emmanuel Latthe Lath this weekend, despite the Middlesbrough forward potentially being involved in a transfer worth up to £20m. Atlanta United have made an offer which will break the MLS transfer record, but a deal is far from done, despite the two clubs being in conversation.

"Yeah, 100 per cent, he's 100 per cent with us," said Carrick to the Northern Echo when asked if the Ivorian would be involved.

"Manu is our player, he's trained fantastic this week. Very, very well this week actually. He's looking forward to the game on Saturday."

The 26-year-old has 10 goals and two assists in 26 matches this term, putting him as their top scorer.