Portsmouth to box clever after Alex Robertson transfer decision made – Dan Bardell
Dan Bardell concedes it is a huge blow for Portsmouth to miss out on Alex Robertson and says they will have to box clever now in the market.
Alex Robertson’s move to Cardiff City was confirmed on Wednesday (Cardiff City on X) as the Bluebirds agreed a deal worth around £3million with Manchester City, from whom Pompey loaned him in 2023-24.
Injury curtailed the Socceroo’s season at the halfway point and 23 league games, but Robertson oozed class during his loan spell which saw the Fratton faithful in full agreement that the club should look to bring him back.
“Obviously, Portsmouth would’ve loved to sign him but I don’t think they’d have had the budget having just returned to the Championship,” sports presenter Bardell exclusively told Pompey News.
“Portsmouth will have to box clever now to almost replace him with another loan of Championship standard.
“There’s no denying that it’s a blow – they will have wanted to keep that collective together that they had last season.”
Portsmouth must move on from Robertson
It hurts, but Portsmouth must regroup and continue to chase other transfer targets.
It has now become evident that Pompey were always going to be up against it since Cardiff registered an interest, with Erol Bulut pursuing the Aussie as his primary target and the £3m fee reflecting that.
Pompey fans will not like seeing Robertson divert to a Championship rival on a permanent deal, but this is already a week in which deals have been successfully pulled off under the radar for Matt Ritchie and Andre Dozzell.
John Mousinho, Rich Hughes and the scouting staff at Fratton Park all have their astute heads on, and whilst some supporters are concerned not enough is being spent, six of the eight signings so far in the window have crucial Championship experience, of which everyone recognised the squad had a limited amount.
That is something that Robertson, despite his obvious ability, does not have – and the pros and cons of missing out on the deal must be weighed up objectively and moved on from.
The club’s biggest league match profile-wise in over 12 years takes place this Saturday, at Elland Road against Leeds United, no less.
In other Portsmouth news, the Opta supercomputer has ranked Pompey’s predicted league position.
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