'We pursued other targets': Portsmouth chief's honest admission about why Blues didn't bid for Abu Kamara

The Blues lodged a transfer window enquiry with Norwich about buying the talented winger following his outstanding Fratton Park loan.

However, according to Hughes, the valuation was ‘far in excess’ of what Pompey were able to meet, prompting them to cool their interest without a bid being tabled.

And Kamara, who handed in a transfer request to drive his Carrow Road departure, eventually left for Hull on deadline day in a reported £4.5m move.

Hughes told The News: ‘We love Abu, we think he’s a terrific talent, he’s a great young man and we wish him the absolute best. He developed incredibly well over the year, but we move forward with the group we’ve got.

‘If there was a scenario where it was sustainable and financially sensible to do so, we would have explored it, but we didn’t put in a bid.

‘‘There are high reported figures which I'm sure everyone can understand as the reasons why we weren’t able to get involved in the fight for Abu.

‘We know where we are and one of our strengths is not wasting our time on things we’re not going to be able to effect, I think that’s what we do really well.

‘We spoke to Norwich and they made their position clear on it. We have a lot of respect for other football clubs, we respect their players as much as we ask other clubs to respect ours.

‘However, the point where they named a valuation that was far in excess of anything we would be able to achieve was when we moved on and pursued other targets.

‘Regardless, we wish Abu all the best, he’s a terrific young man.’

Pompey have strengthened their wing options this summer with the recruitment of Josh Murphy and Matt Ritchie on free transfers.

In addition, Harvey Blair was bought from Liverpool for an undisclosed fee, while Sammy Silvera arrived on a season-long loan from Middlesbrough.

The quartet join Paddy Lane in competing for two first-team spots, although Silvera has also been utilised as a number 10 on occasions.

Meanwhile, wide men Anthony Scully and Gavin Whyte left Fratton Park on transfer deadline day after disappointing stays, with Kamara preferred to them for the majority of the title-winning campaign.