Portsmouth chief lays down transfer target to excite faithful

Andy Cullen has targeted a repeat of last summer’s rapid transfer business to aid Pompey’s Championship return.

And the Blues chief executive highlighted the rapid recruitment work 11 months ago, as one of the keys to this season’s League One title glory.

Cullen believes getting a good portion of John Mousinho’s squad through the door by the time they head off on their pre-season training camp can again prove beneficial.

Pompey made a rapid start to their transfer activity ahead of Mousinho’s first full season at the helm, with nine players recruited by the start of July.

Will Norris, Conor Shaughnessy, Jack Sparkes, Ben Stevenson, Gavin Whyte, Terry Devlin, Anthony Scully and Christian Saydee and Ryan Schofield were landed in June, with Kusini Yengi also linking up with the squad when they jetted off to Mijas in Spain.

Cullen noted that helped create the squad harmony central to title success and also generated excitement among the Fratton faithful, as optimism grew at what could be achieved in League One.

Cullen acknowledged the nature of the transfer window means not all transfer work can be completed early, but a busy opening is again sought when the shutters come up for business on June 14.

He said: ‘One of the success stories of last summer, was were able to do a lot of our business early and take a lot of the team away on pre-season to Spain.

‘That was hugely important because it developed a sense of togetherness and a sense of bonding.

‘It enabled the coaching staff to work on shape and create an identity for the following season.

‘We want to do what we can to repeat that.

It’s not going to be possible to do that in every single case. We will have to be patient with some players, that’s always the nature of the transfer window.

‘But if we can assemble a good proportion of the squad to go out and be together (on the training camp) and be there when we come back at the end of June that would be fantastic.’

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