Portsmouth outline firm stance should any 11th-hour bids come in for prized assets

Ronan Curtis was identified by Brentford earlier this summer as a potential replacement for Said Benrahma, who is closing in on a move to West Ham.

The winger raised his profile on Wednesday after coming off the bench in the Republic of Ireland’s 1-0 defeat to Finland.

Meanwhile, Alex Bass was wanted by Crystal Palace and Marcus Harness has made an eye-catching start to the season, scoring five goals so far this term.

Clubs have until 5pm today to complete any deals.

Kenny Jackett has admitted there has been little interest in players he considers key to his plans or those on the fringes.

But if a bid was launched for a regular starter then it’s almost certain it would be rejected – as there would be little time to find a suitable replacement.

Pompey boss Jackett said: ‘I can't see that happening or most importantly where we would go if it did?

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‘You get to a certain stage where the numbers are high enough, any club could say. But that's very unlikely and I don't see that happening.

‘From our point of view, you work hard to put a squad together and a lot of people work very hard to put the best squad together that you can.

‘We would have very little time to react to that now.’

Out-of-favour duo Paul Downing or James Bolton could leave Fratton Park if there is interest.

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