Portsmouth boss admits transfer fears amid ongoing pursuit of impressive Luton man and ex-Arsenal and Plymouth player

Yet the head coach doesn’t anticipate any development in the Blues’ pursuit until Luton’s play-off campaign is completed.

The January loan recruit enjoyed an eye-catching second half of the season for Pompey, with 21 appearances and nine clean sheets.

There had been plenty of sceptics among the Fratton faithful when Macey arrived from Luton – now many would like to see a permanent arrangement.

Mousinho has previously voiced his desire to sign the 28-year-old, who has 12 months remaining on his Kenilworth Road deal.

But there are concerns his encouraging Blues performances may have alerted other suitors.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Matt has another year at Luton, so we’ll have to see what they say.

‘I think that’s probably going to be one that won’t develop until the end of May because they are involved in the play-offs.

‘As you’d expect, Luton aren’t sorting things for next season yet. So Matt will go back there and we’ll keep that conversation open.

‘He has been excellent for us, kept a lot of clean sheets, made some really, really good saves, and been very solid. From what I hear, he’s probably a bit of a fans’ favourite in terms of loans coming in and impressing.

‘Matt has been a big part of what we’ve done over the last few months and, probably one of the downsides of those positive performances, is there might be more suitors. We know that.

‘Maybe one of those is Luton, they might now want to keep him as well.

‘When a loan goes well and there are real positives, sometimes getting the player back can be a tough one because there’s a lot of intricacies in there.’

Luton’s Championship play-off campaign begins on Saturday (May 13), when they travel to Sunderland for the semi-final first leg.

The return fixture is on Wednesday, May 17 – with the Wembley final scheduled for Saturday, May 27.

The Hatters’ number one is Ethan Horvath, an American international who has spent the season on loan from Nottingham Forest.

They also have James Shea and Jack Walton, with the latter recruited from Barnsley in January and now serving as regular back-up for Horvath.

Macey only arrived at Kenilworth Road in June 2022, having been signed from Hibernian for an undisclosed fee on a two-year deal.

Mousinho added: ‘I have spoken to Matt and he’s loved his time here.

‘I don't actually spend a huge amount of time with him because Joe Prodomo does the majority of the work with the goalkeepers, although Matt comes over and trains with us every day and I have been impressed.

‘Regardless of where it is, he’s got a bright future ahead of him, even at the age of 28, which is young for a goalkeeper.’