Portsmouth boss on tough task to replace 'massively influential' team member heading to Everton

But he is adamant Pompey are determined to identify the quality to take over from the Everton-bound head of recruitment.

As previously reported, the Midlands-based Boardman is heading to Goodison Park to become their Senior European Scout.

The former Wolves analyst has been at Fratton Park as head of recruitment since September 2017, when appointed by Kenny Jackett.

It’s a position he continued to serve following Rich Hughes’ arrival as sporting director, playing a key role in last summer’s recruitment drive which brought 14 new faces to the south coast.

But now, following six years with the Blues, Boardman will be joining Everton.

Mousinho told The News: ‘The impact of Phil leaving will be significant because he has been such a brilliant servant to the football club over the last six years.

‘Since I came in January, I’ve worked very, very closely with him and he was a massive part of what we managed to get done in the summer.

‘We’ve brought some excellent players to the football club and Phil’s had a huge say in that, he’s excellent at what he does. In some ways, it’s no surprise he has been taken by a Premier League club.

‘He has been massively influential here and has an extensive knowledge of all of the leagues.

‘Phil did that huge piece of the A-League, which resulted in Kusini Yengi coming over, and did a huge amount of work to get Terry (Devlin) in Northern Ireland.

‘He knows football inside out, from the Premier League under-21s to non-league, all the leagues in between, and foreign leagues as well. It is genuinely sad to see him go.

‘If he wants to work for a Premier League club there is very little we can do at the moment and we wish him all the best.’

Hughes will be overseeing appointing a replacement for Boardman.

And Mousinho also recognises the importance of maintaining the strength of a recruitment department which brought in the likes of Regan Poole, Connor Shaughnessy, Christian Saydee and Will Norris this summer.

Pompey’s head coach added: ‘We are obviously going to have to recruit a head of recruitment.

‘We need somebody who fits into the current model, working alongside Rich, working alongside myself, and trying to fit into the way we have done things so far.

‘We definitely have a job on our hands finding that, but will make sure we’ll replace him properly. There is no room for sentiment, we have to move on and we have to move on quickly.’