'Real glimpses': Upbeat Portsmouth boss applauds ex-Crystal Palace man's impact despite 45-minute season
The highly-regarded youngster arrived from Selhurst Park in September 2025
It took four months to make his Pompey debut - and just 45 minutes of action before breaking down again.
Nonetheless, John Mousinho is adamant Franco Umeh demonstrated his exciting potential in those fleeting first-team involvements.
The highly-regarded former Crystal Palace suffered an agonising early departure from the FA Cup encounter with Arsenal, when forced off in the 84th minute.
Umeh had been introduced onto the left wing against the Premier League leaders shortly before half-time for the injured Harvey Blair, representing his second Blues outing.
However, the 20-year-old also didn’t complete the match after tearing his hamstring. He is now unlikely to play again this season.
‘We had seen real glimpses of it’
Mousinho had endured a patient wait before he was able to call upon Umeh, with the attacker having arrived from Selhurst Park in September with a hamstring injury.
But he believes he saw enough to convince him that the youngster possesses a bright future.
Mousinho told The News: ‘I think Franco showed his talent, we had seen real glimpses of it.
‘We just wanted to get the right moment to try to get him on the football pitch, to try to get him affecting games, so we’ve definitely seen plenty of the talent and the promise.
‘He worked really hard to put himself into a position to come and affect the first-team. He trained with us for 6-8 weeks before we were ready to put him back in.
‘We were trying to build him up, trying to make sure that he was robust enough to play games - and we thought the introduction against Arsenal was pretty much perfect for him.
‘He had a little spell before half-time and potentially 50 minutes overall to settle down and regain his composure, to get himself back.
‘Unfortunately, not far from the end of the game, he ended up getting injured and it’s a real blow for us.’
Deadline day recruit from Crystal Palace
Pompey swooped for the Palace youngster on deadline day in September, signing him for an undisclosed fee.
The Irishman had previously played in four EFL Trophy matches for the Eagles’ under-21s, while also spent eight games on their Premier League bench last season, without being used.
Having arrived at Fratton Park with a hamstring injury, it wasn’t until December before he was able to be included in the match-day squad.
Umeh subsequently appeared in the 90th minute against Charlton for his Football League debut - and was involved in the build up for Minhyeok Yang’s memorable 98th-minute winner.
Then, two games later, the Irishman found himself being thrown into the action in the 40th minute against Arsenal and definitely didn’t look out of place.
Within minutes of his introduction, Myles Lewis-Skelly was booked for pulling back the Pompey man during one attack, while, as the game wore on, Umeh demonstrated a willingness to help out defensively.
However, he has now returned to the sidelines once more and Pompey do not expect the former Palace prospect to be available again this season.