'There was an opportunity': Portsmouth chief defends signing injured Crystal Palace starlet
The 20-year-old has still to feature for Pompey after his deadline-day arrival
Rich Hughes admits it was an ‘educated guess’ to sign an injured Franco Umeh from Crystal Palace.
Now the 20-year-old is back in training - and Pompey’s sporting director believes the winger can make up for lost time and be a Fratton Park hit.
Umeh was snapped up by the Blues for an undisclosed fee on transfer deadline day, having sat on Palace’s bench for eight Premier League matches last season.
However, he arrived at Fratton Park nursing an ongoing hamstring injury, with Hughes keen to capture the highly-rated former Cork City youngster regardless.
As a consequence, frustratingly for the Fratton faithful, Umeh has yet to feature for his new club, only returning to training last month as the wait to catch a glimpse of his talents continues.
Yet Hughes, who along with head of recruitment Brad Wall and John Mousinho oversaw the Irishman’s signing, is convinced it was the right move.
Rich Hughes: This was an opportunity
He told The News: ‘We really like Franco, he has been on the bench in the Premier League and we watched him play a lot for the under-21s. This was an opportunity which came up.
‘Ultimately, the alternative scenario is we don’t sign him in the summer, he gets around Palace’s team, he does well and we can’t get him in January. So we took an educated guess to mitigate the injury.
‘It wasn’t a straightforward process to sign him, he was very well regarded at Palace, quite liked by Glasner and training with the first-team a lot, but it’s an exciting one for us to have as part of the group and to be able to build on.
‘Possibly we may not have been able to sign him but for the injury, but it’s one of the sliding doors moments of football which you never really know what pans out.
‘It has been great watching him in training in the last fortnight or so, but we’re not going to rush him, we want to build up that resistance to him, make sure he’s ready to go when he’s back in the group. We just need to build up that training load with him.
‘Franco is a player we have high hopes for. We just have to get him out on the pitch and then, hopefully, everyone will see some of the traits which me and John saw in abundance when we went to watch him last year.’
Four EFL Trophy outings for Crystal Palace Under-21s
Umeh was also an unused substitute in Carabao Cup clashes with QPR and Aston Villa last season.
Overall, he has featured four times for Palace’s Under-21s in the EFL Trophy since September 2023, having made his debut against Wycombe.
Umeh marked his fourth outing by scoring against Gillingham in a 3-1 success in September 2024 - his last senior appearance.
Now he’s bidding to get fit and make an impact in Pompey’s first-team in a season which is turning into a relegation battle.
Hughes added: ‘We think he's going to be a really talented boy, we love his attitude, he’s a really smiley, positive kid.
‘Franco’s strong, he’s powerful, he’s quick, he has a lovely left foot. He will provide balance and will play in a few different positions.’
Your Next Pompey Read: Pompey chief delivers Fratton Park expansion update in long-running wrangle