Potentially a perfect Portsmouth reunion - but is ambitious transfer for ex-Swansea, QPR and Wigan man realistic?

There was an inevitability over Jamal Lowe’s Bournemouth release. Likewise, there’s an inevitability over the first club he has been linked with.

Pompey are back in the Championship and eager to strengthen attacking options for the challenge which lies ahead.

Naturally a perfect reunion has been mooted, certainly by the Fratton faithful, who would relish the return of a player who scored 29 goals in 119 appearances before his August 2019 departure.

Lowe has established himself in the Championship, featured in the Premier League, and become a Jamaica international in the five years which have elapsed.

Nonetheless, following his long-anticipated Cherries departure, the 29-year-old is now available on a free transfer - tantalising availability which Blues fans cannot ignore.

Realistically, wages will be an issue. Despite having not featured in the Premier League for almost 18 months, he would have been on a significant sum far out of Pompey’s reach.

Lowe joined the Cherries in a reported £1.5m deal from Swansea in August 2021 to fire them back into the top-flight. Mission accomplished, the likelihood is promotion would have been accompanied by a decent pay rise.

Granted, soon he won’t be earning whatsoever, yet, as a club recently occupying League One, Pompey’s playing budget would struggle to even come close. Certainly any wage expectations would need to plummet considerably.

That is if the Blues actually want to sign the former Hampton & Richmond player, who is etched in club folklore after capturing the League Two title and the Checkatrade Trophy during his brilliant two-and-a-half years at Fratton Park.

Turning 30 next month, he clearly doesn’t fit the recruitment criteria of rising young talent which can be cashed in at a later date. The lack of resale value is obvious.

Regardless, Lowe offers an experienced head, a proven performer in the Championship, and as Marlon Pack, Sean Raggett and Joe Rafferty so emphatically proved, older players can play pivotal roles in this Blues set-up.

What’s more, he has 39 goals and 186 appearances at this level, representing Wigan, Swansea (twice), QPR and Bournemouth, and retains a home in the New Forest. Crucially, he would also relish the opportunity of a Pompey return if the time is right.

Last summer, he gave a two-and-a-half hour interview in a cafe in Christchurch, Dorset, for forthcoming book Played Up Pompey Four, which is out in September and currently available on pre-order.

Aside from rating the Checkatrade Trophy final goal against Sunderland as his career highlight, the Blues rank as his ‘favourite’ club.

‘How it finished tainted my time at Pompey for a while, but I couldn’t let that dictate my whole affection for the football club, that wouldn’t have been fair,’ he told Played Up Pompey Four.

‘Now I can look back and be proud of what I achieved there. I’m grateful to have been involved in some successful moments in the club’s recent history.

‘Pompey has been my favourite club, it has to be. I've had some really good times at other teams, but, as a whole, those two-and-a-half years at Fratton Park make it my number one.

‘Of my three children, two - Bonnie and Dexter - were born at Queen Alexandra Hospital, while Ziggy was born in Bournemouth.

‘In terms of football, Pompey marked my return to the Football League. I went from playing in front of 400 fans to 17,000 - and what a wonderful place to start my journey again.’

Certainly Lowe’s departure from Fratton Park wasn’t a clean break, having fallen out with chief executive Mark Catlin, while there was the misunderstanding over not playing against the Hawks, which he has since corrected.

Still, five years on, he’s back on the market - and the vast, vast majority of Pompey fans would love to see the likeable former PE teacher return home.