FINDING BLUES A WELCOME PROFIT
DANNY COWLEY believes he will deliver Pompey a healthy profit if he’s backed to unearth young gems.
And the Blues boss is confident Fratton Park can be the home to some of the game’s brightest young talent next season, after his loan successes.
Pompey are pushing on with their recruitment, but the wait is still continuing to get a deal over the line after the transfer window opened last Friday.
One significant strand to the club’s business is executing a strategy of bringing in young players on the rise who can be nurtured and improved.
Premier League and Championship academies along with the non-league game, are two fertile grounds for picking up such talent.
But bringing in hopefuls who can become substantial assets will come at price, however, with chief executive Andy Cullen stating fees are available for players.
In that scenario, Cowley is confident he can make good on the plan which has been publicly laid down by the club.
The Londoner pointed to the Gavin Bazunu success story as evidence of what could be a lucrative policy for Pompey.
He said: ‘We have confidence we can develop young players.
‘I think our ambition and primary aim is to develop our young players. Imagine if we’d signed Gavin Bazunu this time last year?
‘We would have been able to develop him and we would’ve had a £15m player on our hands.
‘It just shows you what can be achieved.
‘The reality is the players of that quality aren’t always available to us on a permanent deal, but are on loans.
‘The players we have, our young players, we have to work to develop to get to the levels of George Hirst, Hayden Carter and Gavin Bazunu. That’s the reality.’
Cowley has strong credentials when it comes to improving young players in his managerial career to date.
A number of those talents have arrived on loan from Premier League clubs, with Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe and Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah are notable examples of players who have gone onto to flourish in the top-flight.