The way to deal with the former Chelsea player is starting to become more apparent this week. The Brentford teenager has been given game time in the Premier League this season.
This month, Pompey is still completely focused on transferring him.
And now that a roadblock to potentially signing Brentford’s Myles Peart-Harris has been removed, the Blues can now focus on finding new players to help them resume their promotion quest.
The 21-year-old is considered as the kind of forward-thinking player who may provide a struggling attempt to win the Championship a shot in the arm, thus acquiring his offensive prowess is a priority during the winter window.
Pompey will need to exercise patience in their pursuit of players, though, as manager John Mousinho has recently provided an explanation for why.
A large number of the players on the club’s hit list for recruiting this month are currently playing for Premier League and Championship teams, frequently filling in for more seasoned players or rising through the ranks.
This month’s Asian Cup and African Cup of Nations are happening, and teams have lost players to these events, so they don’t want to be short on possibilities. During the Premier League mid-season break, other elite teams are evaluating their rosters while away at training camps.
In the meantime, teams are shuffling their packs in preparation for knockout action as the FA Cup’s two rounds take place in January as they aim to utilise peripheral players.
It’s the latter which could help free up Peart-Harris to move on, as Brentford were knocked out at the third-round stage on Tuesday night by Wolves.
Gary O’Neil’s men picked up a 3-2 replay win at Molineux, with Peart-Harris featuring for nearly an hour as the match went to extra time. So keeping bodies around for the fourth round which takes place at the end of the month isn’t on Thomas Frank’s agenda now, with it looking likely Peart-Harris will leave west London in search of game time.
A further problem Pompey still has to deal with is fending off the Championship teams rumoured to be interested. Huddersfield, QPR, and Sheffield Wednesday are all rumoured to be interested in the £1.5 million acquisition, but the Blues do have a few wild cards up their sleeve.
Peart-Harris spent his childhood coming through the ranks at Chelsea, where he is well acquainted with Pompey’s assistant head coach Jon Harley. That link proved significant in bringing Tino Anjorin in last summer, with the former Stamford Bridge favourite likely again being called on to use his sway in any discussions.
And Peart-Harris is also familiar with Pompey’s transfer mastermind in Hughes. It was the Pompey sporting director who engineered the Londoner’s loan move to Forest Green last year, shortly before his Fratton arrival
Peart-Harris has a realistic prospect of playing regularly, and Pompey will hope that his great experience of developing young talent in previous seasons and the loan contract that will facilitate an agreement will be additional negotiating tools.
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