John Mousinho pinpoints transfer priority as Portsmouth bid to accelerate business

John Mousinho has put attacking recruits at the top of his transfer shopping list as Pompey look to kickstart their business.

The Blues boss feels there’s still a lot of work to do this summer, to give his squad the strength going forward required to progress in the Championship.

Pompey have lost Yengi, Saydee, Aouchiche, Gordon and O’Mahony

And Mousinho highlighted his squad is much lighter on bodies in attacking areas than the one which finished the season, as evidence why the area of the pitch is now a priority.

Pompey have brought in a single recruit so far in the summer window, with the A-League’s top scorer adding impetus in the final third in the shape of Adrian Segecic.

But Kusini Yengi has left as a free agent and moved to Scottish Premier League outfit Aberdeen, while Christian Saydee agreed a deal to join League One side Wigan last month.

Additionally, Adil Aouchiche, Mark O’Mahony and Kaide Gordon have returned to their parent clubs Sunderland, Brighton and Liverpool, after loan stays over the second half of the season.

That’s a net deficit of four, while Elian Sorensen also left the club in January, after moving to Fratton Park last summer.

Segecic, Josh Murphy, Callum Lang, Matt Ritchie, Paddy Lane, Thomas Waddingham and Colby Bishop are the current forward players in Mousinho’s squad.

Pompey are pushing on with their recruitment as they jet off to Slovakia today for the pre-season training camp. There are no new faces on the plane in terms of signings, though there is the possibility of a deal being reached while the club are at their base near Bratislava.

And Mousinho is clear about where there needs to be a major focus as Pompey go about their squad surgery.

He said: ‘If you look at across the front line we’ve lost Kusini (Yengi), we’ve lost Christian (Saydee), we’ve lost Adil (Aouchiche) and Kaide Gordon who’s gone back. Harvey (Blair) is injured at the moment, too.

‘There’s been a lot of workload on Murph (Josh Murphy), who we relied on heavily last season and we relied heavily on Langy (Callum Lang) until he got injured.

‘We saw Colby (Bishop) come into the side and make a huge difference, but Mark O’Mahony has gone back as well. Then there was Elias (Sorensen) who we lost in January as well, so there’s clearly a lot of work to do there.’

Pompey midfield transfer focus also needed

Beyond forward areas the midfield department is another area where Pompey will look to add more than one new face, before the close of the transfer window on September 1.

Loanees Freddie Potts and Isaac Hayden have returned to their parent clubs after their loan stays, leaving skipper Marlon Pack, Andre Dozzell and the out-of-favour Abdoulaye Kamara as the options in the middle of the park.

Mousinho added: ‘If you look at the squad there’s the front-liners Marlon (Pack) and Doz (Dozzell), while Abdou (Kamara) didn’t play that many games. In terms of people competing for starting spots there, that’s definitely a department we need to strengthen.’