Fratton faithful are still waiting to see only summer buy in pre-season action
HE REPRESENTS
Pompey’s sole purchase of a financially-impacted summer transfer window.
However, the Fratton faithful have still to glimpse Liam Vincent.
The Blues were tempted into spending an undisclosed fee on a talented teenager who purportedly was also interesting Premier League clubs.
The 18-year-old signified Danny Cowley’s first signing as Pompey’s head coach following his June arrival from non-league Bromley.
Since then, Cowley has recruited another seven players, a mixture of free agents and loan deals.
Yet injury to his left leg has sidelined Vincent from their opening six pre-season friendlies and continues to keep him out of training.
And the attacking leftback is not anticipated to return to action for the start of the League One campaign.
‘Liam is making good progress, but we can’t do anything until the next scan because of the nature of the injury.,’ Cowley told The News.
‘At this point we don’t know how long he’ll be out for, not too long hopefully.
‘He’s just a young player, a player we bought for the future. He’s not a player for today, he’s a player for the future.
‘Liam’s only an 18-yearold boy, but we see qualities in him and there were Premier League clubs which also saw qualities in him.
‘He has the potential to have the pace, the power and the athleticism, plus he’s got some really nice technical ability. So there’s definitely lots for us to work on.
‘With all young players, when they are in this moment and are being starved of something that they love, naturally that is tough for them.
‘But this is the life of an elite sportsman.’
Vincent was taken out of training having been involved in the opening week of pre-season.
At the time Cowley described it as an ‘overuse injury’, affecting the tibia on his left leg, requiring time away.
Vincent accompanied the squad on their St George’s Park training camp, although did not participate, with his leg largely in a protective boot.
Since his arrival,
Pompey have signed
Clark Robertson, Shaun Williams, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Gavin Bazunu, Kieron Freeman, Gassan Ahadme and Jayden Reid.
Although Reid has now joined Vincent on the sidelines after sustaining cruciate ligament damage to his knee at Luton on Saturday.