‘Power in the market’: Portsmouth’s transfer policy shift and recruitment plans moving forward

But Blues boss John Mousinho expects a focus on loan deals to remain moving forward, though he insisted that won’t be at the expense of long-term recruitment projects.

Pompey’s emphasis on loans in the last window raised some eyebrows, with there a total of six temporary signings in Mousinho’s squad - with only five allowed on the matchday team-sheet.

Director Eric Eisner’s statement the club would be ‘relying on loans’ in the January window drew criticism from some supporters at the end of last year, with chief executive Andy Cullen adamant doing so wasn’t the ‘cheap option’.

Mousinho believes the shift was more about Pompey’s strength in the transfer market at Championship level not being what it was in League One.

As a result, temporary deals for Newcastle’s Isaac Hayden and Bristol City’s Rob Atkinson were actioned, as Championship nous was added along with moves for Sunderland’s Adil Aouchiche and Liverpool’s Kaide Gordon.

That’s in addition to West Ham’s Freddie Potts and Brighton’s Mark O’Mahony already being at the club on a temporary basis.

With Aussie youngsters Hayden Matthews and Thomas Waddingham arriving in addition to Cohen Bramall and Ben Killip, Mousinho is comfortable long-term strategies weren’t neglected.

Even after looking for a short-term fix, Mousinho acknowledged loans will have to remain part of the transfer strategy moving forward.

Pompey ‘in a difference’ circumstance in Championship

He said: ‘I think originally when I first joined the club in League One, we were looking to move away from a heavy reliance on loans.

‘Once we got promoted we very, very quickly had to adjust that, because the remit is different.

‘Portsmouth shopping in League One is very, very different to Portsmouth shopping in the Championship - for now.

‘So those loans become very important and they could maybe be players we couldn’t afford to sign or could get - but we could take them on loan.

‘That’s why we took six loans, it’s not something we would’ve done last year. It’s definitely a market we’re still looking at.

‘We are in a different circumstance to last year.

‘The power Portsmouth has in League One changes when we go up a level, certainly in terms of power in the market.

‘So we’ve needed to try to use the loan market a lot more than we did last year.

‘It gives us definite options in the short term.

‘January was one where we felt we had a really clear short-term priority. We still had the long-term projects, hence Tom and Hayden - though we thought Hayden could impact things a bit quicker.

‘Apart them those two lads, we brought in four in loan and two free transfers. I guess that signalled the intent of where we wanted to go for the next four months.’

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