Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho revealed that summer speculation over a potential move to fellow Championship side Bristol City was based on legitimate interest from the Robins.
Following the close of a second consecutive season where Mousinho had ensured that Pompey maintained their Championship status, talk was rife on social media about a potential move to Ashton Gate.
At one stage it looked like Mousinho may have been on his way, but with pre-season now getting back under way and Bristol City appointing Michael Skubala as their new head coach, Mousinho admitted that the talk never got further than conversations with his agent.
“The interest from Bristol City was real,” he told BBC Radio Solent.
“That was something at the start of the summer that came from club to agent, and there was a conversation there.
“But it didn’t get any further than that, there was no official approach from the football club and it never got beyond that initial phase of the football club going and speaking to the agent.”
Last season Mousinho led Portsmouth to an 18th-placed finish, eight points clear of the relegation zone after a strong finish to the campaign.
The Pompey job remains Mousinho’s first full role in football management, and across his three full seasons he has become a hero at Fratton Park, getting the club promoted from League One and keeping them in the second tier.
“I never made any moves to try and leave in the summer,” Mousinho added.
“I was very clear at the back end of the season that it wasn’t a desire that I wanted to leave, I’ve spoken to a lot of Portsmouth fans this summer who said it’s been a tough summer and some of them are surprised to see me back in and around in Southsea.
“But there was nothing that ever got particularly serious no matter how much it looked like that in the press.”
Pompey looking to increase transfer spend
Portsmouth players are now back training with scheduled friendlies against Bristol Rovers and Wycombe to come.
They then open their EFL Cup campaign with a visit to West Ham United before Championship matches against QPR and Lincoln City.
Mousinho is hoping to go into those opening games with a strengthened squad and some new acquisitions in the summer transfer window.
“There’s plenty going on at the moment,” Mousinho added.
“One area that we will try to move forward is in having the ability to pay fees for players, we’re going to try and shift away from where we have been the past couple of summers.
“Last year we spent around four and a half million and we’re looking to now move beyond that, we don’t know what that will look like though with the current market.
“The key to us improving this season is how some of the lads come back from their summers and who we bring in between now and the end of the window, that will be very important.”
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
