Ex-Portsmouth triallist and former West Ham man flourishing with new Sheffield United contract after first-team breakthrough

A former Pompey triallist has committed his future to Sheffield United - 11 months after an encouraging Fratton Park stint.

The highly-regarded Jamal Baptiste spent three weeks training with the Blues last summer, featuring in four pre-season friendlies.

An ex-Manchester City and West Ham defender, he was available on a free transfer and had impressed John Mousinho after arriving on the south coast in July 2024.

Short of numbers in the centre of defence with Tom McIntyre and Regan Poole sidelined by long-term injuries, plus the departure of Sean Raggett, they cast their eye over Baptiste as a potential recruit.

Along with another triallist, Sean Patton, the likelihood of their permanent arrivals at Fratton Park was an ongoing topic from the moment they faced Gosport in a friendly.

First-team outings for Sheffield United

Pompey’s head coach described Baptiste as performing ‘really well’ during his spell - only for the centre-half to eventually opt to win a contract elsewhere.

Despite Mousinho being adamant his interest remained in the then 20-year-old, the youngster ended up trialling at the Blades and, in November, signed a deal, although primarily associated with their under-21s.

But there were two first-team outings, including being named on the bench 13 times as an unused substitute in the Championship, as he challenged for selection.

Join our free Pompey newsletter, delivering the headlines at lunchtime

Now Baptiste’s encouraging progress has been confirmed after signing a new deal at Bramall Lane, following ‘a successful first season at the club’.

A statement on the official Sheffield United website said: ‘Defender Jamal Baptiste has put pen to paper on a new contract after a successful first season at the club.

‘The 21-year-old originally joined the Blades earlier in the season after leaving Manchester City, and after making a first team debut soon after arriving in S2, has now committed his long-term future to the club.

‘The former West Ham United academy player, also a youth team international with England at Under 19s level, was a regular in the United Under 21s under Gary McSheffrey throughout the campaign.’

Baptiste’s last Pompey involvement was their behind-closed-doors friendly against Wycombe in July 2024 - before embarking on a trial elsewhere.

‘Quite possible he could come back’

At the time, Mousinho told The News: ‘Jamal was on trial up until Saturday (last week). We are still in talks, but at the moment he hasn’t been training with us this week.

‘Quite possibly he could come back, but I think Jamal has some other options, so it’s about weighing all those up.

‘I thought he did really well, well enough for us to still be interested, but there’s a lot of factors in play with that and potentially other clubs in terms of what we are looking at in that department.

‘We’ve got to assess all the options there. I thought he did pretty well.’

After joining Sheffield United, Baptiste made his Football League debut as an 84th-minute substitute at right-back in their 2-0 win at Cardiff in December.

He then registered a maiden start as a central defender in an FA Cup third-round 1-0 defeat, also to Cardiff, in January.

Baptiste’s last involvement in a squad was in March, as an unused substitute in a 1-0 victory at Sheffield Wednesday.

Your Next Pompey Read: 'My choice': An emotional Christian Saydee on why he needed to leave Pompey