‘There were talks’: How Portsmouth headed off rival interest to land new international
The South Africa international is away with Bafana Bafana - where he has explained there was other interest to secure his signature before joining Pompey in the Championship.
Luke Le Roux has revealed how he ignored noise of other interest in his services to join Pompey.
And the South African international has outlined his ambitions of making it to the Premier League, after sealing his arrival in English football this summer.
Le Roux: ‘The talks were there and the interests were there’
Le Roux was one of 11 new faces moving to PO4 through the transfer window, with the Blues paying £1m to Swedish outfit IFK Varnamo to land the 25-year-old.
The midfielder has now revealed how South African big guns Kaiser Chiefs were keen on bringing in the former SuperSport United man, as he weighed up his future.
That noise didn’t develop into a concrete offer, however, with Le Roux always keen to develop his game in England after his spell in Sweden and previously with Dutch side Volendam.
Speaking to South African football magazine, Kick Off, Le Roux said: ‘So, there were talks and there were interests, but there was no concrete offer or anything from Kaizer Chiefs.
‘I wouldn’t say that there were 100 per cent offers or anything like that. The talks were there and the interests were there, but nothing really happened, and at that time, I was at the stage also where I was trying to stay in Europe and see how much and what I could get in Europe, and try to do my best away from home.
‘I’m happy for this opportunity, I’m happy to have joined Portsmouth, so, yeah, let’s see how it goes, you never know what can happen in the future.
‘So, it’s really a hard question to answer (would he have joined Kaiser Chiefs), especially since we haven’t got to or we never reached that stage of them showing me their offer.
‘But like I say, there were talks, there were interests, but nothing concrete, really, and nothing materialised out of that. So, I wouldn’t be able to say whether I would have done something or not when it didn’t come to that stage.’
Le Roux: ‘Of course, I’d like to play in Premier League’
After a period of building fitness following a stint out of the Varnamo team as his move to Pompey was completed, Le Roux is now showing clear signs of being at a level to impact the starting XI at Fratton Park.
The Stellenbosch-born man is clear and realistic about that being his immediate target, as he arrives at a level he sees as a step up from where he was operating.
But Le Roux does have bigger ambitions over reaching the top of the English game in years to come.
He added: ‘Firstly, the team, of course, wants to do better than last season. That’s on a team level.
‘On a personal level, I would like to play as many games as possible now in the Championship. I would like to have an injury-free season.
‘I would, of course, like to play in the Premier League one day. I don’t know whether that is in three, five, or 10 years - I don’t know.
‘But I believe that everything will happen at the right time. For now, I’m just focusing on playing for Portsmouth in the Championship, doing my best. You never know what can happen in the future.’