'Realistic' Portsmouth boss admits Joe Morrell fears after surprise contract decision

John Mousinho admits Pompey may lose Joe Morrell over their contract stance.

But the Blues head coach is adamant he wants the Wales international to remain for their Championship challenge.

Pompey have decided against activating the club option to keep the midfielder at Fratton Park for an additional 12 months.

Instead they are keen to negotiate a fresh deal, providing more flexibility to discuss wage terms and contract length.

However, now a free agent, a player the calibre of Morrell won’t be short of interest from other clubs, particularly in League One.

And Mousinho concedes Pompey may lose the 27-year-old this summer, despite their desire to keep him.

He told The News: ‘With Joe, we have decided not to take up the option in his contract, but we don’t want to close the door on that.

‘So it’s down to the football club and Joe to see if there’s something we can do in terms of a contract going forward.

‘It’s out of my hands in terms of negotiations and it would be nice to sort something out with Joe, but, at the same time, we knew the minute we didn’t take his contract up, there are going to be plenty of other clubs in for such a good player.

‘We are realistic, it’s something we have taken on board and we’ve made that decision.

‘Absolutely we’d like him to stay. I don't want to contradict myself because we had the option to definitely keep him in terms of taking the contract, but we have to weigh everything up.’

Morrell finds himself in a similar situation to Zak Swanson, whose option also wasn’t taken up, yet contract negotiations are expected.

In the meantime, Marlon Pack and Connor Ogilvie have been tabled new deals, although 10 of the title-winning squad have been released.

Mousinho added: ‘We won’t go into the ins and outs of any contracts, they are confidential to players, but it’s something that has to be right for Joe and has to be right for the football club.

‘The option is the option and whatever is in there would have protected ourselves in terms of no-one else being able to speak to Joe.

‘It’s something we’ve decided not to do, so now there’s a lot more flexibility in that negotiation.’