Portsmouth set to swoop for Manchester City's highly-regarded ex-Liverpool, Wolves and Rangers talent spotter

Pompey are raiding Manchester City for their new head of recruitment.

The Blues have been searching for Phil Boardman’s replacement since October, when it emerged he had secured a job at Everton.

They have subsequently identified Brad Wall, the Premier League champions’ Northern UK scouting manager who boasts an impressive pedigree.

Wall, who has spent 12 months at City, previously worked as Wolves’ lead senior UK coordinator and lead technical scout.

The highly-regarded talent spotter has also served Glasgow Rangers as head first-team analyst and Liverpool as a performance analyst.

In addition, Wall spent 18 months as men’s performance analyst at the Football Association, working for England under-19s when they clinched the 2017 Uefa European Under-19 Championship title in Portugal.

Pompey sporting director Rich Hughes told The News in January that a candidate possessing a ‘strong history of recruitment’ had been identified.

Now the Blues are putting the finishing touches to Wall’s Fratton Park arrival as Hughes significantly strengthens their recruitment set-up.

Boardman left the Blues in February after seeing out a January transfer window in which five new players were signed to bolster the League One leaders’ promotion bid.

He has now taken up the role of Everton’s senior European scout, having spent six-and-a-half years at Fratton Park.