Portsmouth transfer news: Marcus Harness pens goodbye message to Fratton Park fans following Ipswich move - and reveals one regret

The now departed winger used both his Twitter and Instagram accounts to thank everyone – from the fans, the management, their support staff and the players – for making his time at the club such an enjoyable one.

But he admitted he left the Blues for a new challenge at Ipswich with one regret – not achieving the success that he and the club had aimed for, following his arrival from Burton in 2019.

Harness joined the Tractor Boys late on Friday night for an undisclosed fee.

The 26-year-old was expected to leave Pompey this summer, with the Republic of Ireland hopeful’s latest contract set to expire at the end of this season.

Yet the 11pm announcement of his move to Portman Road caught everyone off guard and denied the winger the chance to wave goodbye to the Fratton faithful.

Indeed, his last game in front of Blues supporters came in the pre-season friendly win against Qatar SC in Murcia, Spain – a match attended by only a handful of spectators.

That proved to be his last game, too, with the winger a late withdrawal for the behind-closed-doors game at Bristol City last Tuesday.

But thankful of the three years he had at Fratton Park, Harness posted some kind words on social media.

He wrote: ‘I want to thank the Portsmouth FC fans for all the support over the past three years!

‘We never managed to get the success we all would have liked but I had some real enjoyable moments and met some amazing people.

‘There's not a much better feeling than scoring a winning goal in the Fratton End and it's something that I'll remember fondly.

‘I also want to thank Danny and Nicky (Cowley), all the coaching and support staff and the players from over the years for helping me be the best I could be and making an opportunity like this possible.’

Signed for around £800,000 in 2019 to help Pompey win promotion to the Championship, the Blues finished fifth, eighth and 10th in the three season’s Harness played at PO4.

In that time, he scored 31 goals in 134 appearances for Pompey, making him a key attacking threat for both Kenny Jackett and Danny Cowley.

Now as he embarks on a new challenge, the forward hopes he can help Ipswich fulfil their dreams of returning to the Championship.

In the same note penned to the Blues, Harness wrote: ‘I want to thank everyone for their kind words and the amazing welcome to Ipswich.

‘I have been blown away by your amazing support. I'm so excited to be on board and can't wait to show a packed Portman Road what I can do!

‘Looking forward to being a part of such an exciting time in the club's history and I am highly motivated to put in the work that this opportunity deserves, to play my part in making the club's huge ambitions come to life.’