The obstacle now cleared as Portsmouth chase Premier League starlet with Huddersfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday, QPR & Co

He remains firmly in Pompey’s transfer sights this month.

And an obstacle to potentially bringing in Brentford’s Myles Peart-Harris has now been cleared, as the Blues look for the recruits to get their promotion push flying again.

The attacking talent is a winter window priority, with the 21-year-old seen as the kind of forward-thinking player who could give a faltering bid to reach the Championship a shot in the arm.

Pompey are having to be patient in their player hunt, however, with boss John Mousinho explaining exactly why that’s the case in recent days.

Many of the players on the club’s recruitment hit list this month are currently operating at Premier League and Championship outfits, often as back-up to established faces or coming through the ranks.

WIth the African Cup of Nations and Asian Cup taking place this month, sides have lost players to the competitions meaning they don’t want to leave themselves short of options. Other top-flight outfits are taking stock of their squads while away on training camps amid the Premier League mid-season break.

Meanwhile, with two rounds of the FA Cup being played in January, teams are looking to fringe players as they shuffle their packs for knockout action.

It’s the latter which could help free up Peart-Harris to move on, as Brentford were knocked out at the third-round stage on Tuesday night by Wolves.

Gary O’Neil’s men picked up a 3-2 replay win at Molineux, with Peart-Harris featuring for nearly an hour as the match went to extra time. So keeping bodies around for the fourth round which takes place at the end of the month isn’t on Thomas Frank’s agenda now, with it looking likely Peart-Harris will leave west London in search of game time.

Fending off the Championship sides said to be interested is another issue Pompey yet have to tackle. Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield and QPR are all said to be keen, but the Blues do have a couple of ace cards up their sleeves when it comes to winning the chase for the £1.5m signing.

Peart-Harris spent his childhood coming through the ranks at Chelsea, where he is well acquainted with Pompey’s assistant head coach Jon Harley. That link proved significant in bringing Tino Anjorin in last summer, with the former Stamford Bridge favourite likely again being called on to use his sway in any discussions.

And Peart-Harris is also familiar with Pompey’s transfer mastermind in Hughes. It was the Pompey sporting director who engineered the Londoner’s loan move to Forest Green last year, shortly before his Fratton arrival.

With a loan deal the conduit to an agreement, a strong history of developing young talent in recent seasons and Peart-Harris having a realistic chance of regular football will be another bargaining chip Pompey will hope will swing the move their way.