Portsmouth boss reveals scenario over permanent deal for Middlesbrough winger

But the Blues boss admitted it’s unlikely the Aussie winger will remain at Pompey beyond next season.

Mousinho has revealed how his team lost out to the Championship side in a chase for Silvera’s signature last year.

Now the head coach is delighted to be able to bring in the 23-year-old on season-long loan, after a surprise opportunity for a deal presented itself.

Mousinho admitted the chance to land Silvera came as a surprise, after his maiden campaign returned six goals amid 16 starts and 26 sub appearances.

Now he’s keen on enjoying the Socceroos talents for the next season, though he does currently have two years to run on his parent club agreement.

Plenty of Pompey fans have asked about the nature of the loan and whether there’s the opportunity for a longer stay - Mousinho has now made his position clear.

Mousinho said: ‘I think Middlesbrough are really keen on having him back.

‘You never know what’s going to happen off the back of that, but the reason it was a loan and not a permanent is because Middlesbrough see this as a really good step for Sam to go out and play as many games as he can in the Championship.

‘From our point of view, we think that he will be able to do that with us, so we see that as a real positive.

‘We probably didn’t see it as something that would be viable, if you’d asked me six weeks ago.

‘It came as a slight surprise to us, but I’m sure Middlesbrough have plenty to come in behind Sam in their squad.

‘It just one where we want to take good players if we can. As soon as Sam was on the table we knew we wanted to take him.’

Mousinho confirmed Silveri was firmly in Pompey’s sights last summer, before being pipped to his signature by Boro as he left Central Coast Mariners.

The data room work carried out then allowed the Blues to move quickly when an opportunity for a move surfaced this time around.

Mousinho added: ‘It helped because of the fact we done a lot of work on him last season, and the only thing which prevented us signing him was Middlesbrough coming in and doing the business.

‘We completely understood at that point, it was the right choice for Sam to go and ply his trade in the Championship. Thankfully it’s worked out for us a year on.’