Portsmouth boss' centre-half transfer admission - and reveals potential defensive departures

John Mousinho insists he remains ‘open’ to recruiting another central defender, following Pompey’s Rob Atkinson disappointment.

Regardless, he anticipates there could be summer departures among his current six-strong pool of contracted centre-halves.

Hayden Matthews, Ryley Towler, Conor Shaughnessy and Regan Poole are currently in pre-season training ahead of the forthcoming 2025-26 Championship campaign.

In addition, Tom McIntyre has been handed an additional week off having been part of Charlton’s successful League One play-off campaign, while Ibane Bowat is still progressing well following a long-term knee injury.

That leaves the Blues with six players in a defensive position which their head coach regards as ‘strong’.

Although he hasn’t ruled out adding to their numbers - and revealed Pompey are monitoring the transfer market for a potential addition.

Portsmouth boss: We are strong there

Mousinho told The News: ‘I think we are strong there, we have six contracted centre-halves.

‘I guess the word of caution is if you look at five of the six of them, there have been injuries over the past couple of seasons. That has meant we now have six in the building - and like all six.

‘Barring Ryley - who would have been fit for the best part of the last 100 or so games since we signed him - we have to be cautious around how we manage that load.

‘Having six of them might seem slightly heavy, but, at the minute, with four centre-halves for a match-day and the state of how we are minute, I think it’s wise to be prudent.

‘We are not shutting the door to signing another, but we’re pretty happy with what we have in the building. If you could guarantee all the centre halves are fit in terms of the season, we would absolutely bite your hand off.

‘We will keep an eye open on potentially getting in another, but we are certainly not prioritising that.’

Rob Atkinson set-back for Portsmouth

Pompey had been keen on bringing Atkinson back to Fratton Park permanently following a successful loan in the second half of last season.

However, the 26-year-old last week signed a new three-year deal with Bristol City to secure his future at the Blues’ Championship rivals until the summer of 2028.

Shaughnessy, Poole and Matthews will feature strongly in the battle for a first-team starting spot this season, backed up by Bowat, once he has proven his fitness following his 10-month absence.

Naturally, that leaves question marks over Towler, who is sure to attract interest having started 10 Championship matches last season, while McIntyre has long fallen out of favour.

‘We wouldn’t necessarily dismiss it’

Mousinho added: ‘We are not entirely sure if any will leave, it’s going to be interesting to see how it pans out over the summer.

‘There may be opportunities if players have them, but we wouldn’t necessarily stand in their way. Christian (Saydee) is a really good example of that.

‘We are not looking at any of the centre-backs and asking them to find alternative employment because we do like all of them, we think they can contribute.

‘But, if the opportunity should pop up for some of them, we wouldn't necessarily dismiss it straight away.’

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