‘Real challenge on our hands’: Portsmouth boss’ transfer admission as window reaches climax
The Pompey boss addresses the transfer window finale - and how his club will need to be shrewd against Championship relegation rivals ready to spend big before 7pm on February 2.
John Mousinho admitted relegation rivals operating with deeper resources than Pompey is ‘nothing new’ as they splash the cash at the window’s climax.
And the Blues boss has promised the Blues will be ‘smart’, as they embrace the challenge of doing deals which can make a difference for their survival fight on more modest means.
Pompey’s ‘shrewd’ recruitment as rivals chase £6m striker
January player trading is now reaching a climax, with a busy period of activity expected between now and 7pm next Monday.
The early signs are Pompey have recruited shrewdly in the £500,000 capture of Ebou Adams from Derby and a loan move for Luton Town’s Millenic Alli, with Keshi Anderson arriving as a free agent after leaving Birmingham City.
Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Svante Ingelsson has a £500,000 valuation, with Dundee defender Luke Graham pursued and a new striker sought.
Elsewhere, relegation rivals are also ramping up their business, with some big figures being mentioned around the Championship.
Norwich City have struggled this term, but are said to be looking to pay some big fees to pull themselves away from danger.
That’s clearly seen in their hunt for £6m-rated FK Bodø/Glimt striker Kasper Høgh, who scored twice against Manchester City last week in a Champions League upset for his side.
The Canaries have also brought in winger Ali Ahmed and Brentford midfielder Paris Maghoma on a permanent basis, with the former Bolton man a player of interest to Pompey.
Meanwhile, Blackburn Rovers have paid £3m for Høgh’s team-mate Mathias Jørgensen, as they aim to arrest their slide down the table.
Similar levels of spending from teams in the lower reaches of the Championship will be no surprise in the coming days, with no chance of Pompey competing with that expenditure.
Mousinho isn’t hiding from the reality that increases the challenge of keeping the Blues in the second tier, but feels they can continue recruiting with savvy to find the right solutions.
He said: ‘This (the level of rival spending) is what we talked about in the summer, all of a sudden a couple of our targets go for £4.5m or £5m.
Pompey boss: ‘We have real challenge on hands, which is positive’
‘It’s nothing new and it’s something which has been going on now for the 18 months we’ve been in the Championship.
‘It’s just something we’ve got to deal with.
‘We have to be very smart about how we do things and it’s why we sometimes have to take gambles, take punts on players and they don’t work out for us.
‘That is going to happen for us, because we have to be a bit braver and we have to be slightly different to the way other clubs operate.
‘It makes me feel we have a real challenge on our hands, which is a positive. We have to embrace it and keep building.
‘The only way we’re going to get to those sort of levels (of spending), is if we stay in the league and keep building on what we’ve managed to do over the past 18 months.
‘It just increases the level of the challenge. We know some of the clubs around us are going to have that kind of spending power. We’re in a slightly different boat - and we have to deal with that.’