Why Portsmouth's pursuit of departing Cardiff midfielder Marlon Pack shouldn't come as a surprise - as Blues need upgrade to compete with League One promotion favourites

That’s the verdict of The News’ chief sports writer, Neil Allen, who believes central midfield is an area of the pitch that needs looking at this summer – despite the presence of some notable performers in that position already.

Last week we revealed that Blues boss Danny Cowley had held talks with Pack over a potential Fratton Park return for the Portsmouth-born ace.

Pompey currently have three senior central midfielders in their ranks in Joe Morrell, Louis Thompson and Ryan Tunnicliffe, while youngster Jay Mingi is also an option.

But Cowley is keen to strengthen his engine room even further this summer – and has his eyes on the soon-to-be free agent.

The 31-year-old Cardiff midfielder will, no doubt, command a decent wage, irrespective of a desire to return to his hometown club.

And despite admitting the club must focus their summer attention on the forward department, our chief writer believes Pack would provide the upgrade needed to make the Blues more competitive next season.

He said: ‘Pompey do need another central midfielder because, for what everyone said about Shaun Williams, he’s gone and needs to be replaced.

‘He played a lot of games last season, Ryan Tunnicliffe had injury problems, we know about Louis Thompson’s injury issues and Joe Morrell had Covid, illness and injuries.

‘They need four experienced central midfielders and Cowley wants more of a sitter to be in there as well.

‘Pompey need a lot of signings – they need three strikers, a right-back, goalkeeper, central midfielder, they need to sort out their wingers.

‘The only place they don’t need is left side of defence and wing-back, they might even need another centre-back!

‘But they can’t go into next season with exactly the same midfield as last season after finishing 10th, they need to upgrade and they need to improve.

‘Marlon Pack, on paper with his CV, would do that with his commitment to the football club, age, Championship experience so hopefully he can come in.’