It would appear that after Portsmouth’s crucial victory against free-falling Leicester City, and the Blues’ incredible turn in form since the international break, that John Mousinho is looking to plan ahead for next season early.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Pompey are in the race for the signature of once highly rated ex-Manchester City and Dortmund winger Jayden Braaf.
Fabrizio Romano has today revealed Portsmouth’s interest in 23 year old Dutch winger Jayden Braaf formerly of Italian Serie A side, Hellas Verona.
The winger, who spent time in the academies of Manchester City, Ajax and PSV, is currently a free agent drawing interest from a variety of European clubs including Portsmouth themselves.
It seems though, that it is Dutch side Ado Den Haag, who are currently top of the Dutch second division, that are leading the race for the winger’s signature, despite the interest from both Pompey and Spanish second division side, Cadiz.
Since coming up through the ranks of a variety of European giants, the Dutchman has failed to truly make a name for himself at the highest level.
After signing for Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer from Manchester City in 2022, Braaf was loaned out to Hellas Verona who would then go on to buy him for a fee of €1 million.
The 23 year old would however go on to struggle for the Italian side which prompted him to be loaned out further to Dutch side Fortuna Sittard and Italian Serie B side Salernitana, scoring only three goals in five years albeit with very limited game time.
Despite the winger’s recent struggles, the repertoire of clubs that he has played for could possibly indicate that he possesses the necessary skills to find his feet again and operate at a level as competitive as the Championship.
Braaf, was in fact hailed as a ‘Wonderkid’ by fans after scoring his first professional goal in the colours of Udinese back in 2021 whilst on loan from Man City and with the winger still only being 23 in this moment of time, there is certainly some sense of excitement at the idea of him potentially playing for Portsmouth next season.
Jayden Braaf, being a free agent, fits the historical transfer strategy of Rich Hughes and Portsmouth perfectly and certainly looks like the type of player John Mousinho would be interested in having at his disposal next season.
Since the arrival of Rich Hughes in 2022, Portsmouth have undergone a consistent process of large-scale change within each Summer transfer window, often featuring the signings of young, free agents with varying degrees of success.
The signings of players like Harvey Blair, Abdoulaye Kamara and this summer’s addition of Croatian international Adrian Segecic are proof of the risk and reward of contracting players of a very similar profile to Jayden Braaf.
Adrian Segecic, signing from Sydney FC in the summer at the end of his contract, has been a perfect example of the success that can be brought with this risky transfer approach.
The Croatian U21 is currently the club’s top scorer (with six goals) and second highest ranking in assists this campaign with four (three of which have all come in the last three games for Portsmouth).
Harvey Blair has been another example of this success in transfer policy and he has shown glimpses of his true potential littered throughout his time on the south coast which have unfortunately often been marred by his injury record.
On the other hand though, Abdoulaye Kamara represents the downsides to this approach of signing a young, inexperienced ‘wonderkid’ as was epitomised by the fact that Portsmouth sold the ex Dortmund II player to third division German side FC Saarsbrucken for a significant loss of money.
Whether or not this deal does truly go through for Portsmouth, the increased certainty of Pompey reserving their status in the Championship for another season that has come about from an incredible run of three wins on the spin, suggests that for Portsmouth to finally kick-on and avoid another scrap at the wrong end of the division, change is most definitely needed on the transfer front.
Portsmouth currently sit seven points above Oxford United and the relegation zone with three games left to play and will be heading up to newly promoted Coventry City in their next fixture to hopefully cause yet another consecutive upset.
