REVEALED: Danny Cowley’s transfer message over landing Portsmouth attacking target as he details focus for the rest of window

Danny Cowley has vowed he won’t be held to ransom in his hunt for a new front man.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The Pompey boss has revealed his transfer focus lies on bolstering his front line and landing a new midfielder before Monday’s transfer deadline.

But Cowley believes the prices he’s being quoted for potential recruits are being inflated beyond their true values.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And the 43-year-old promised he will hold off spending the money until the summer if that continues to be the case.

Cowley said: ‘We would to bring a permanent in the forward positions, knowing we potentially won’t have any forwards come the summer. That’s our ideal world.

‘But we’re not going to pay over the odds to get a player in now, because we know January can be an emotional window.

‘We’re not going to pay over the odds for anyone, because that doesn’t work in the short term or long term.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘If we can’t do that, we will work skilfully to come up with another solution.

Danny Cowley. (Photo by Daniel Chesterton/phcimages.com)Danny Cowley. (Photo by Daniel Chesterton/phcimages.com)
Danny Cowley. (Photo by Daniel Chesterton/phcimages.com)

‘The number nines cost the big bucks.

‘We know what we want out of our number nines.

‘We have a huge faith in Tyler Walker, his technical ability and finishing.

‘We have George (Hirst) and Ronan (Curtis), who can play in those position as well.

‘If we could add another player in that area that would really help.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘But we won’t pay over the odds. I’d rather save the money and use it in the next window.’

Cowley has landed four players this month with seven players departing either permanently, on loan or by being recalled from temporary stays at Fratton Park.

He would like two additions before Monday’s 11pm deadline, but is absolutely adamant that won’t be at the cost of his long-term planning.

When asked if he was looking for a midfielder and attacking player, Cowley said: ‘Yes, we would like to add two players to the group.‘We’re on 19 at the moment and in an ideal world we’d like to leave the window with 21 players.

‘That’s what we’d like to do, but it’s not always possible.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘We’ve got a clear recruitment strategy and we know what we want to do.

‘We’re pleased with the work we’ve done and have needed to create some finance.

‘We’ve done that really skilfully and early, and that’s given us more scope than we’ve anticipated.

‘We know the type of players we want to bring to the club.

‘January is not an ideal world though, sometimes you have to compromise.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘If we do have to compromise, what we won’t do is make decisions which affect the club long term.

‘People will need to respect and understand we have a clear vision of where we want to go. We won’t let anything get in the way of that.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Get 30 per cent off our sport subscription, which gives readers unlimited access to all our Pompey and grassroots coverage for just 9p a day, by using the promo code JanSports30. The deal expires at midnight on January 31.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.