In the summer of 2025, following survival in the Championship with two matches to spare, the Blues sought to strengthen their playing squad.
Overseen by sporting director Rich Hughes and head of recruitment Brad Wall, Pompey signed 11 players, paying transfer fees for seven of them.
Barely more than 12 months later, only Adrian Segecic can claim to be a first-team regular for John Mousinho.
Here we look at those 11 recruits in the 2025 summer transfer window and what has become of them...
9. Josef Bursik (11 games, 0 goals)
Signed from Club Brugge for an undisclosed fee on transfer deadline day, circumstances dictated that he found himself in Pompey’s starting XI after just one match. Nicolas Schmid’s broken hand and Ben Killip’s unconvincing form saw Bursik start at Ipswich in September 2025 - and keep his place for nine straight matches. Certainly the former Stoke man impressed during that time. Yet, upon Schmid’s return to fitness, the Austrian reclaimed his spot. With Pompey securing their Championship status with two matches to spare, Bursik was recalled for the trip to Stoke, only to damage his quad after just four minutes, while taking a goal-kick. The injury also ruled him out of the pre-season friendlies in the summer of 2026 and he joined AFC Wimbledon on a season-long loan on deadline day. The 26-year-old has so far featured three times for the Wombles in League One - and has yet to concede. | Getty Images
10. Makenzie Kirk (15 games, 1 goal)
Having scored four goals in his opening five appearances for St Johnstone in the Scottish League Cup, Kirk was recruited by Pompey in a £500,000 deal. Swapping the Scottish Championship for the English Championship, the Northern Ireland Under-21 international was challenged with providing striker competition for Colby Bishop. An excellent lobbed finish against Coventry in September 2025 on only his third outing represented an encouraging start, but that proved to be his only goal in 2025-26. Although Kirk missed five games with an Achilles injury from February 2026, his first-team absence was largely influenced by selection as he struggled for match minutes. The 22-year-old moved on a season-long loan to Barnsley in July 2026 and has so far scored one goal in seven games for the League One club, although was substituted at half-time in Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Plymouth. | Graham Hunt/ProSportsImages
11. Conor Chaplin (37 games, 2 goals)
It was heartbreaking to watch Chaplin’s much-vaunted Pompey return fall so flat - and nobody will be more upset than the attacker himself. Arriving on a season-long loan from Ipswich having featured in the Premier League the previous season, the Blues’ League Two title-winner couldn’t find his form, despite putting his heart and soul into it. That was a period on the right wing, but primarily Chaplin operated in his favoured number 10 role, while contributing just two goals. Although his winner at Middlesbrough in April was huge in Pompey’s successful relegation fight. Handed a free transfer from Ipswich in the summer, he joined Leicester, although injury has restricted him to just two matches so far.
12. Franco Umeh (2 games, 0 goals)
Since a September 2025 move from Crystal Palace, the winger has totalled just 45 minutes of first-team football, consisting of two appearances. The highly-regarded youngster arrived with a hamstring injury - and has since suffered two more during his time at Fratton Park. Umeh’s latest comeback was in the final friendly of pre-season against Kuwait SC, where he was forced off after just 11 minutes following another hamstring injury. According to John Mousinho, the 21-year-old is pencilled in to return in November 2026. | Graham Hunt/ProSportsImages