West Brom beat Portsmouth to £1m signing from Championship rivals
Portsmouth are still shopping around for new signings despite their strong start to the Championship season.
The Blues have made six new signings so far this summer, and they each made bright enough starts to their Portsmouth career.
However, John Mousinho has made it clear that there’s space for more new additions before the transfer window closes.
Portsmouth miss out as Krystian Bielik prepares to join West Brom
Pompey are seemingly still looking to strengthen their defence, despite looking well-stacked in this area.
Regan Poole and Conor Shaughnessy have established themselves as first-choice centre-halves thanks to their domineering performance at Oxford.
However:
- Ibane Bowat is still struggling with fitness concerns
- Hayden Matthews remains inexperienced and struggled in the Carabao Cup tie against Reading
- Portsmouth opted not to offer a contract to triallist Nathan Ferguson
These reasons might explain why Mousinho might have been interested in signing Birmingham defender Krystian Bielik.
Bielik has fallen down the pecking order at St Andrews, and Football League World reports that Portsmouth were preparing to bid for him.
However, the Polish defender is now believed to be finalising a £1million deal with West Brom.
Portsmouth will improve defensively if Poole and Shaughnessy can remain fit
Poole and Shaughnessy didn’t play together at all last season.
In fact, they’ve only ever started a handful of games together because of the injury problems that they’ve both suffered.
| Player | Appearances | Goals |
| Shaughnessy | 9 | 1 |
| Poole | 27 | 1 |
They showed their fans what they’ve been missing with a defensive masterclass against Oxford last Saturday.
Oxford bombarded Portsmouth’s penalty area with crosses and long throw-ins in the dying minutes of that match, but each attack was dealt with expertly, usually by one of Portsmouth’s towering centre-halves.
The Blues only kept one clean sheet away from home last season. They have equalled that record after one game with Shaughnessy and Poole back in the team together.
Mousinho will be confident of improving his team’s horrid away form if these two can keep fit. Although given their defensive injury crisis last season, it makes sense that he’s seeking back-up in this area.
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