'Spending has increased': Portsmouth chief's transfer admission after summer recruitment drive

Andy Cullen has pinpointed Pompey’s ‘increase in transfer spend’ as proof of the commitment towards pursuing success.

The Blues once again enjoyed a busy summer transfer window, with 11 new arrivals ahead of their second successive Championship campaign.

That business was underpinned by seven players recruited for fees. Although undisclosed, it is believed three - Mark Kosznovszky, Luke Le Roux and Josh Knight - cost in excess of £1m.

The others Pompey splashed out on are Adrian Segecic, Josef Bursik, Makenzie Kirk and Franco Umeh.

By Cullen’s admission, that is an increase in spending compared to recent transfer windows overseen by owners Tornante and sporting director Rich Hughes.

And he is convinced that escalation reflects the commitment towards ensuring the Blues continue to establish themselves back in the Championship after that 12-year absence.

Portsmouth chief: It’s about where the investment opportunities are

Pompey’s chief executive told The News: ‘What has happened over the course of the summer has been down to incredible hard work and due diligence across the signings, in particular from Brad Wall, Rich Hughes and Tony Brown, working closely with John.

‘It has been about where the investment opportunities are and trying to negotiate the best deals for the football club. We paid a fee for Adrian Segecic, we paid a fee for Luke Le Roux, we paid a fee for Mark Kosznovszky, we paid a fee for Josh Knight. Then, on the last day, Josef Bursik, Makenzie Kirk and Franco Umeh.

‘We have paid fees across a number of players this season, which represents a real net increase in transfer spend this year.

‘We are still very, very fixated on bringing in emerging talent, first-team ready when you can, but also making sure we have experience, which is essential if you’re going to progress in the Championship, which is where we want to go. We are looking upwards.

‘We are a football club which wants to progress each and every single season and we want to make the squad stronger. We want to support our head coach and sporting director - after all, that philosophy and strategy enabled us to go for Conor.’

Three loan signings

Amid the 11 signings at Fratton Park this summer are three loan recruits - Florian Bianchini (Swansea), Yang Minhyeok (Spurs) and Conor Chaplin (Ipswich).

All on season-long arrangements, the Blues are confident the trio will maintain their history of successes in the loan market since Rich Hughes’ arrival in October 2022.

Pompey’s last set of accounts filed at Companies House for the year ending June 30, 2024, detailed the cost of loan players had dropped by 58.9 per cent.

This amounted to £408,000 spent for 2023-24 on four signings: Abu Kamara, Alex Robertson, Tino Anjorin and Myles Peart-Harris - compared to £994,000 in 2022-23.

And Cullen insists the club remain committed to keeping loan player costs down.

‘I always get criticised for saying...’

He added: ‘I always get criticised for saying we are trying to reduce the reliance on loans, yet that is taken as the number of loans - when it’s not. It’s about how much we are proportionally spending on loan players as a proportion of our budget.

‘As a Championship football club, wherever you are in the pecking order you will bring loan players in to make the difference and I think we have done that with some really good loans this year, including Conor coming in too.

‘The proportion of the budget spent on the loan players will enable us to build something strong for the future.’

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