We are ready to ‘push the button’ on summer deals, says Pompey head coach
John Mousinho revealed Pompey are ready to ‘push the button’ on deals this summer.
But the Blues’ boss acknowledged patience will be required to get some transfers over the line in the next few months.
Pompey are planning to bring in up to 10 new signings before September 1, with new sporting director Rich Hughes charged with overseeing business.
A number of options have already been mentioned on that front, including Tommy Leigh, Gavin Whyte and Sam Smith.
Under rules introduced last year, deals cannot be officially ratified until June 10.
That didn’t stop some clubs announcing deals before that date, though chief executive Andy Cullen has stated Pompey will wait until the window officially opens to avoid the possibility of moves being hijacked.
Everything can be put in place now, however, and Mousinho revealed his club are well placed on that front.
He said: ‘We are in as good a position as we possibly can be, because we’ve been working on it since January and we’ve had a few weeks now to push the button on a few things. We’d love to get things done early, but it’s easier said than done because the players who are in demand have a lot of options, and if you have a lot of options you tend to wait for the best one, or wait for a few more to materialise.
‘So it’s easier said than done, but we feel we’re in a good position, we feel we’re in a decent enough position to start pushing the button on a few of them.
‘We wanted to wait until the season is finished and everything is sorted, then we will go from there. We do think we’re in a good spot, though, and you do want to get your business done early.’
Mousinho added: ‘If you take one example, the loans market, they never became available until they’ve finished their (pre-season) tours and they (other clubs) decide what they want to do.
‘Everything is then worked out from that point of view – that can happen across the board.
‘Owen Dale, for example, Blackpool will want to have a look at him in the building.
‘We will have Haji (Mnoga) and Liam (Vincent) back and we want a chance to look and assess them in pre-season – then we will go from there.’