Ian Darke shares what his ‘Bundesliga spies’ have told him about Josh Knight and Portsmouth
Portsmouth’s new signing Josh Knight is contention to make his debut against Preston North End on Saturday.
Knight signed for Pompey for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £1million earlier in August.
The English centre-half has experience playing in the Championship for Peterborough United and Wycombe Wanderers.
His signing should help provide extra strength in depth to a Portsmouth defence that struggled for fitness last season.
This article includes exclusive comment from Premier League commentator Ian Darke.
Ian Darke delivers verdict on Portsmouth signing Josh Knight
Portsmouth’s signing of Knight has led to some questions, mostly surrounding why Portsmouth would spend such a significant portion of their transfer budget on a defender.
After all, Regan Poole and Conor Shaughnessy have proven to be solid at the back for Portsmouth thus far.
Speaking exclusively to Pompey News, Premier League commentator Ian Darke shared what he’s been told by insiders – and it will certainly gets fans excited.
He said: “The word on him I’ve got from my Bundesliga spies is that he’s physical, he’s a bit of a goal threat and massively committed.
“Maybe not the stronger points of his game would be playing out from the back, and maybe he’s not the quickest either.
“I think they’ve spent about a million pounds on him, and he has good experience and he’ll certainly be battling to be a starter.
“I could imagine there would be a battle between him and Regan Poole to be the starting centre-back alongside Conor Shaughnessy.”
Portsmouth’s Carabao Cup defeat vs Reading may have prompted John Mousinho to take action
Earlier in the summer, Portsmouth boss John Mousinho had boasted about how well-stacked Portsmouth were in defence.
With Shaughnessy and Poole as starters, as well as Hayden Matthews and Ibane Bowat in reserve, this didn’t look like a position that needed strengthening.
At least not until Bowat and Matthews started the Carabao Cup defeat together against Reading.
In that match:
- Pompey looked shaky playing out from the back at times
- Matthews was at fault for one of Reading’s goals
- Bowat was substituted in the second half.
And Darke thinks this match might have prompted Mousinho to dip into the transfer market.
He said: “I think he might have looked at that that night and thought, ‘we need a bit more cover in this area’.
“That’s when they may well have decided to go out and get this fellow Josh Knight in for a little bit of extra insurance back there.”
While Matthews and Bowat have potential, Mousinho will likely feel more comfortable starting Knight ahead of these two right now.
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