‘You never know:’ Portsmouth boss’ intriguing transfer clue as avenue opens to new arrival
The transfer window is closed - but there is now a route to Pompey conducting further recruitment after the publication of the EFL’s 25-man Championship squad lists.
Pompey are ready to mobilise in the free agent market once again if necessary.
The Blues believes the club have carried out a ‘wise’ move in leaving one space open in their 25-man squad for the months ahead.
Mousinho: ‘Wise for us to leave that spot open’
And that means the club’s football operation have afforded themselves the flexibility to bring in an out-of-contract player, if the necessity arises before the new year.
The EFL last week published their members’ squad lists, in the wake of the summer transfer window closing on September 1.
In Pompey’s case they chose to name 24 players, in addition to eight contracted under-21 players who do not count towards that total.
That means no place in the squad for keeper Jordan Archer, though the arrival from QPR remains with the senior group.
It does allow the Blues to add a free agent to their group, if they feel the way the season is unfolding necessitates them doing so.
It’s a route they’ve travelled over the past two seasons with Lee Evans joining after leaving Ipswich in the 2023-24 campaign, while Swedish defender Alex Milosevic came in amid a defensive injury crisis last term.
Mousinho confirmed Pompey are open to doing so once again if required.
He said: ‘We haven’t necessarily got eyes on any potential players we want to bring in, but I’d guess you’d never know.
‘We’re really satisfied with where we are as a squad, certainly in terms of numbers, we’ve bolstered our numbers over the past couple of weeks.
‘But should something happen I think it’s wise for us to leave that spot open.
‘We’ve done that a couple of times.
‘We did that with Alex (Milosevic) last year, but unfortunately it didn’t necessarily work out for Alex - though it was good to have him around the place.
‘We had that spot going into January, but it was a slightly different scenario in League One because of the difference in the squad list.
‘But we had a spot for Lee Evans to come in, who did have an impact towards the end of the League One season.’
Former Spurs and QPR man ‘still big part of squad’
Meanwhile, Mousinho has made it clear Archer will stay as an important part of Pompey’s training group, despite not being eligible for first-team selection.
His presence with new face Josef Bursik, Ben Killip and Nico Schmid gives the Blues four keepers, which was viewed as useful for training sessions.
That situation is currently impacted, however, by the wrist injury picked up by Schmid against Southampton.
Mousinho added: ‘Jordan is a big part of the squad still who we value who will train every day, then we will see what it looks like in January.’