Portsmouth's newest signing striving to blaze a trail for much-maligned Blues Academy

A new summer signing has joined newcomer Adrian Segegic on the Slovakian training camp, although he’s no stranger to Pompey.

For highly-promising attacker Harry Clout has secured his Fratton Park future after penning a contract.

By doing so, the 18-year-old becomes the first Academy graduate to be handed professional terms since Josh Dockerill in 2023.

Fellow second-year scholars Cody Howard, Jayden Keteku, Connor May and Luke Staight departed in the summer after not being offered deals.

In the case of Clout, however, his encouraging progress prompted Pompey to explore retaining him and, as a consequence, he has been part of full training since their pre-season return.

He has also travelled with John Mousinho’s first-team set-up for their Bratislava training camp, with the 25-man squad having flown out there earlier today.

Race recent Academy success story

It represents a rare success story for the Blues’ Academy in recent years, having struggled to find a pathway for youngsters into the first-team dressing room.

Last summer, all 11 of their graduates were released, including Koby Mottoh, Harvey Laidlaw, Mitch Aston, Sam Folarin, Brian Quarm, Bastian Smith, Malachi Osei-Owusu, Jack Fox, Maxwell Hurst, Kevin Bosaka and Dan Murray.

In addition, third-year scholar Destiny Ojo was also let go and subsequently spent the 2024-25 campaign with Northern Ireland club Cliftonville.

The Academy poster boy in recent times has been Toby Steward, who signed professional terms in February 2022 as a second-year scholar having long been around the first-team environment, although has still to make his debut.

He is currently in the process of finalising a loan deal with Scottish Championship side St Johnstone, after ending last term at Crawley.

Now Clout is also blazing a trail for the youngsters, having made his first-team debut as a substitute in January's FA Cup third-round elimination at Wycombe.

The former Crystal Palace youngster also sat the bench four times in the Championship in 2024-25, although was never used.

Eye-catching impact against the Hawks

The left-winger first caught the eye of Pompey fans in last summer’s friendly against the Hawks at Westleigh Park, with a huge attacking impact as the Blues ran out 3-0 winners.

Clout subsequently joined Bognor on a short-term loan in September, yet was forced to return to Fratton Park early after sustaining an ankle injury in training, ending his Nyewood Lane stay following four matches.

Sidelining him for more than two months, he returned to action in December to shine in the Academy’s FA Youth Cup extra-time defeat to Leeds at Fratton Park.

Portsmouth chief: Strong performances and progression

Clout ended the under-18 campaign with three goals in 15 outings and a maiden professional deal, with Academy manager Greg Miller praising his progress.

He told Pompey’s official website: ‘I’d like to wish Cody, Jayden, Connor and Luke the very best for the future.

“Their efforts throughout their scholarship have been excellent and I thank them on behalf of all the staff.

“We are also delighted that, in the elite level of a Championship football club, we have witnessed strong performances and progression from Harry and, as such, he has been offered a professional contract.

“It tops off a great season that saw him make his debut at Wycombe in the FA Cup and while he deserves the plaudits, I’d also like to make a special mention to all the academy staff who have helped him reach this point.’

Josh Dockerill, who was handed a professional deal in the summer of 2023, left Fratton Park 12 months later having been sidelined for the 2023-24 season by cruciate knee ligament damage.

He subsequently joined the Hawks last summer following a successful trial and, in May, signed a new deal to remain.

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