Swansea loanee can make up for Portsmouth's missing out on Jamal Lowe sell-on windfall

Needing to raise funds to pay debts after entering administration, the mass exodus of established Championship players began.

A side that had finished 13th in the table, losing one of their final 15 fixtures, were relegated after being hit with a 12-point deduction.

A firesale ensued, with star performers leaving one by one for cut-price fees.

The Fratton faithful kept a keen eye on Jamal Lowe to see where he'd end up – and how much for.

Only 12 months prior, the winger left Pompey for the DW Stadium.

Following a protracted transfer saga, he joined Wigan for a fee in the region of £2.5m.

Installed in the deal was a sell-on clause, ensuring the Blues would net a windfall if Lowe was to continue his hurtling progress and make another big-money move.

Continued hurtling progress is indeed what Lowe achieved, scoring six goals in 48 appearances for Paul Cook’s side in the 2019-20 season.

That earned the ex-Hampton & Richmond ace a switch to Swansea, who’d again be pushing for the Premier League after suffering play-off semi-final heartbreak.

However, there would be no cash boost for the Blues.

The Swans got Lowe for a bargain deal of just £800,000 - a third of what Pompey sold him for.

Because Wigan made no profit from the sale, Kenny Jackett's side were not entitled to a penny..

Instead, the Blues got the remaining £750,000 still owed via the football creditors' rule.

Certainly, it was a blow to Pompey. Extra funds would have been useful amid the coronavirus crisis hitting revenues hard.

The fact that Lowe's one of the Swans’ top performers in their promotion push, scoring nine goals in 26 games, only underlines further that the Blues missed out on what should have been a welcome windfall.

Yet they will be hoping that George Byers can recoup their loses.

The midfielder's been loaned from Swansea for the remainder of the campaign.

Byers fits the bill of the forward-thinking midfielder Jackett has coveted from the start of the January transfer window to provide competition to Andy Cannon.

He was a regular for the Swans last season, scoring five times in 39 games, before a groin injury ruled him out long term.

But despite only playing once this season, Byers is an established Championship performer, turning down clubs in the second tier for the south coast.

In truth, he is the exact calibre of player required to go up from League One.

Should the 24-year-old play an instrumental role and help Pompey achieve a Championship return, it’ll more than make up for the sell-on fee they missed out on from Lowe’s move to Swansea.

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