Portsmouth-linked midfielder poised for Championship as Preston, Cardiff and Plymouth circle, while ex-Blues boss among favourites for Barnsley job

Pompey will this week begin the process of putting in place their plans for next season’s Championship campaign.

That will see head coach John Mousinho and sporting director Rich Hughes sit down to discuss which out-of-contract players the Blues should keep beyond the summer. No doubt, discussions about potential new arrivals will also be on the agenda as focus turns to strengthening Pompey’s ranks.

The Fratton Park side aren’t the only ones already turning to the future, though. as the latest headlines from the Blues’ rivals shows.

Pompey-linked star in Championship tug-of-war

Brighton midfielder Marc Leonard looks set to be at the centre of an EFL transfer battle this summer, with Cardiff, Preston North End and Plymouth all reportedly keen to land the 22-year-old (Football Insider).

The former Scotland under-21 international has been enjoying an impressive season on loan at Northampton, picking up both the club’s player of the season and players’ player of the season awards. And as his profile grows, it’s been suggested the Seagulls are unlikely to stand in his way of a move up the Football League ladder if they receive an offer around £300,000.

Leonard has been linked with a move to Fratton Park in 2024, with John Mousinho referring to the midfielder as a ‘really good, young prospect’. At the same time, though, the Blues boss claimed Leonard was ‘way off my radar at the moment’.

The 22-year-old has registered five goals and six assists for the Cobblers this season, with four of those goals coming since January - including one against Pompey in February. He joined Brighton from Scottish Premiership side Hearts in 2018, but made just two appearances before heading to the Sixfields Stadium, where he was impressed over two successive season-long loan spells.

Ex-Blues boss among favourites for vacant Barnsley job

Former Pompey boss Paul Cook is among the favourites for the vacant Barnsley manager’s job after the Tykes announced the departure of Neill Collins on Monday.

The fifth-placed Oakwell outfit are still on course for a spot in the League One play-offs but took the decision to part company with Collins following four defeats in five winless games.

Martin Devaney will be in interim charge for Saturday’s match against Northampton. In the meantime, the bookies’ favourites for the position have emerged - and the former Fratton Park favourite is clearly on the punters’ minds

The Blues’ 2017 League Two title-winning manager is currently 20/1 to take over from Collins - although he’s behind the likes of favourite Devaney (3/1), former Tykes boss Michael Duff (4/1), Grant McCann (8/1), Neil Warnock (10/1) and Paul Heckingbottom (12/1).

This season Cook guided Chesterfield back to the Football League as champions of the National League.

The well-travelled Warnock, who last managed Aberdeen, came close to managing Pompey on several occasions, claiming the Fratton Park outfit was a ‘fabulous’ club. He told The News in January 2023 that he would have loved to have replaced Danny Cowley on a short-term basis. The club instead opted for John Mousinho as a long-term strategy.