Portsmouth boss explains why he wanted John Swift at Fratton Park following his West Brom exit

John Mousinho has admitted latest signing John Swift ticks a lot of boxes after he welcomed the midfielder to Fratton Park on Tuesday.

Swift - a former youth-team player with the Fratton Park club - has joined the Blues on a free transfer following his West Bromwich Albion exit at the end of last season.

The 30-year-old has signed a two-year deal at PO4 and represents Pompey’s second signing of the transfer window, following the arrival of Adrian Segecic from Sydney FC last month.

An attacking midfielder with 10 years spent operating at Championship level, Swift arrives at Pompey with a wealth of experience and a goal contribution record that makes for impressive reading.

Indeed, from his 337 games in the second tier, the Gosport-born ace has scored 57 goals and provided 48 assists, with his most productive season arriving in 2021/22 when his 11 goals and 13 assists played a key role in Reading avoiding the drop to League One.

That prompted a 2022 summer move to the Baggies, where Swift proved to be a top-end Championship performer over the past three seasons.

And with the Blues keen to compete in the top echelons of the division next term following a 16th-place finish in the second tier last year, Mousinho believes his new midfield signing cleary has the capabilities and characteristics needed to take them there.

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What John Mousinho has said about John Swift

Following Swift’s unveiling, the Pompey head coach said the player possessed the qualities they were looking for during this important transfer window to help the the club to the next level.

‘John is a player with bags of Championship experience and is a real leader – both on and off the pitch,’ said Mousinho.

‘He possesses all the qualities we were looking for in a midfielder, as the club look to build on what was a positive first campaign back at this level.

‘We’re delighted to add John to the squad relatively early in pre-season and I’m really looking forward to working with him as we build up to our first competitive fixture next month.’

When we can expect John Swift’s Pompey debut

It’s not clear when Pompey fans will get their first sight of Swift in action, with tonight’s pre-season opener against Woking (7pm) perhaps coming too soon.

Wednesday night’s trip to Farnborough could be a more realistic goal, with the former Chelsea player retaining his fitness over the past week or so with the aid of a PFA-led training camp in Leicestershire.

Alternatively, the Blues continue their pre-season preparations at Crawley on Saturday, while a game against former club Reading has been pencilled in for a week later.

Whatever fixture is chosen to mark Swift’s homecoming, it’s sure to have supporters intrigued, especially as midfield has been Pompey’s top priority in this summer’s transfer window.

The Blues’ midfield options ahead of their latest dip into the transfer market consisted of Marlon Pack, Andre Dozzell, Terry Devlin and Abdoulaye Kamara, with the latter being told that he is free to leave the club last week.

Blues fans will be keen to see where exactly Swift fits into Mousinho’s midfield plans, what combinations he can form with his fellow midfielders, and whether there remains an urgent need for further additions in the engine room.

As well as Swift, Pompey have been linked with midfielder Pelle Mattsson and Mark Kosznovszky in recent weeks.

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