Portsmouth's wage offer to Preston North End striker and Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich Town, Rotherham United and Charlton Athletic target Jayden Stockley - and what that proves about playing budget worries

And the Blues pursuit of Jayden Stockley underlines their spending power has not been significantly weakened as Danny Cowley plots his summer overhaul.

That’s the view of sports writer, Jordan Cross, in the latest edition of Pompey Talk which you can download HERE.

Supporters are concerned about the kitty Cowley has to spend, with it known the playing budget has been cut.

But Cross believes what Pompey are looking to pay Stockley in terms of wages is very competitive in League One terms - and shows they are not impotent financially.

He said: ‘I think a lot of the anger from the fans, beside the lack of action, is the notion Pompey are getting outmuscled financially by clubs they shouldn’t be getting outmuscled by.

‘I think that’s a slight misrepresentation.

‘You see the likes of Oxford, who do have an increased budget taking our players and we see Wigan, who do have money to spend, taking players. It’s frustrating.

‘Scott Twine to MK Dons is a great example, actually, though.

‘We knew he was a target and he went there, but perhaps he wasn’t a main target on Danny Cowley’s list of names.

‘The fact he went to MK Dons suggested to supporters they were paying the kind of money we can’t.

‘That wasn’t the case. If Pompey were prepared to push the boat out for Scott Twine and pay the compensation they could’ve done.

‘I just feel there’s bigger priorities for Pompey out there.

‘The money I’m hearing they are prepared to pay Jayden Stockley, if fans knew that they’d maybe be a bit more at ease about where we stand financially.

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‘I think the money being spoken about is good League One money for Jayden Stockley.

‘He’s be a premium target - and I think they’d pay the money for them.’

Cross highlighted a belief that selling a player could actually see Pompey’s budget above what it has been previously, and a lack of transfer action to date is not down to weakened spending power.

He added: ‘It’s worth getting across that, although, Pompey have had the budget cut I don’t think it’s been slashed in the way people are perceiving it.

‘I don’t think it’s been hacked to pieces.

‘I don’t think we’ve gone from £4.5m to £2.5m. It’s nothing remotely as extreme as that.

‘Then factor in Pompey potentially selling players, they could actually be in a better place.

‘If you sell a Ronan Curtis, they will actually be better off.

‘The phrase is Danny can eat what he kills - that is if he sells a player that money goes into the kitty.

‘So I don’t think it’s as drastic as people think, I think it’s part of the process for Danny.

‘He know players will come later who aren’t available now. There will be players realigning their demands as time goes on.

‘You will lose those top-end players who are in demand because teams like Ipswich will pay for them.

‘But I don’t think it’s as dramatic as some feel. It’s just we haven’t seen players coming in, there’s not been money spent, there’s players going and it’s creating a storm of anger and angst. I don’t think it’s that dramatic - at the moment!’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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