'The best thing to do': Portsmouth boss lifts lid on pair's double Fratton Park exit

And he wished the Northern Ireland international and Anthony Scully the best in their careers away from Pompey.

With the Blues keen to offload players in the final days of the transfer window, a financial settlement was agreed to rip up the remaining two years of Whyte’s contract.

Having been thrashed out before Friday’s 11pm deadline, albeit officially announced afterwards, it allows Whyte to represent another club immediately rather than waiting until January.

Meanwhile, Scully made a late loan switch to Colchester after another move had fallen through earlier on deadline day.

It marked the end of the pair’s disappointing Blues careers after arriving in the summer of 2023 to much fanfare.

Mousinho told The News: ‘We wish them both well. Unfortunately things haven’t worked out quite how the two of them would have liked having been here for just over 12 months now.

‘Hopefully both of them can go on and do bigger and better things, they’ve both played their part in terms of what we did last year.

‘With Gavin, probably over the last week we decided it was the best thing to do. It was really amicable in terms of the best way - and we thought it was the best thing for both parties.

‘He was absolutely fine with that, really pleased with the way things turned out.’

For Scully, it was the opportunity to reunite with his former Lincoln boss Danny Cowley at Colchester.

However, the winger was not registered in time to feature for the U’s in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Accrington, which leaves them 14th in League Two.

With Scully’s Pompey contract up next summer, the season-long loan effectively signals the end of his south-coast stay.

The former West Ham attacker joined the Blues from Wigan for an undisclosed fee in June 2023, yet featured just nine times during an injury-ravaged stay.

Whyte, who started last month’s Carabao Cup defeat to Millwall, made 34 appearances and scored once after joining on a free transfer from Cardiff.