The highly-rated Leicester and Brighton defenders linked with summer switches to Portsmouth seal moves elsewhere

Brighton youngster Alex Cochrane was tipped to make the short journey along the south coast to Fratton Park as the Blues sought fresh left-back options.

Meanwhile, Leicester defender Josh Knight was seen among others as an option for the centre of defence, with Kenny Jackett keen to recruit a natural left-footer for one of the two berths in that department.

The chances of both arriving at PO4 looked incredibly slim the longer the transfer window progressed.

Lee Brown signing a new deal, along with Cameron Pring’s arrival on loan from Bristol City in September, signalled the end of any pursuit of Cochrane.

And after Pompey swooped to sign Rasmus Nicoliasen from FC Midtjylland after also eyeing up Stoke’s Harry Souttar, it became clear that Knight was no longer on their radar.

The Blues had clearly moved on in both instances – now both players have as well.

On deadline day for international transfers (Monday), 20-year-old Cochrane moved to Belgian club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise on a season-long loan.

There, he’ll link up with former Pompey defender Christian Burgess, who made the move to the second-tier outfit at the end of last season.

As for Knight, the 23-year-old has made yet another loan switch – this time moving to Championship Wycombe, after spending 18 months on loan at Peterborough.

Another player linked with a move to Fratton Park was Leeds midfielder Mateusz Bogusz.

That connection emerged over the weekend, with the Blues known to be keen on strengthening their options in the middle of the park.

But just like Cochrane and Knight, he too has moved elsewhere.

The 19-year-old sealed a deadline day loan move to Spanish side Logrones on Monday evening.

He will now spend the rest of the 2020-21 campaign on loan at the Segunda Division side.

In other deadline day news, former Blues striker Marc McNulty has joined Dundee United on a season-long loan deal from Reading.

Last week the Scottish striker was arrested by Scottish police ‘probing allegations of match fixing in football’, according to reports.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Thank you for reading this story. The News has launched a new subscription offer which gives you unlimited access to all of our Pompey coverage.

You can subscribe here to get the latest updates from Fratton Park, transfer news and expert analysis from our team of Pompey writers.

Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism on your behalf for our city.