Portsmouth FC should use Birmingham City, Ipswich Town transfer saga to land Colby Bishop alternative | OneFootball

Chuba Akpom looks set to return to the second tier - and Pompey should be looking to swoop from either Birmingham City or Ipswich Town

Portsmouth are preparing for their second campaign back in the Championship to get underway this weekend when they travel to Oxford United.

John Mousinho's side will certainly be hoping to kick on even further from an impressive first season back in the second tier, with Pompey finishing the highest of all three promoted clubs, on 54 points and in 16th place.

A lot of that was down to the November return from heart surgery of talismanic striker Colby Bishop, who bagged 11 goals in the league last season. However, Bishop is set to miss the first couple of weeks of the season with a minor thigh injury in an obvious blow to hitting to ground running.

And, following the sale of back-up striker Kusini Yengi to Aberdeen, Pompey are only left with Thomas Waddingham up front should Bishop get injured again. Despite the young Aussie scoring in Saturday's friendly win over PEC Zwolle, Mousinho is sure to want more options for that central striking berth.

The Chuba Akpom saga could be pivotal for Pompey

Chuba Akpom looks set to return to the second tier - with both Ipswich Town and Birmingham City having been locked in an intense transfer battle for the Ajax star. Blues thought they had got the deal over the line, only for his former club Middlesbrough to try a last-minute hijack which eventually fell by the wayside.

The ex-Arsenal striker was then due in Birmingham earlier this week for a medical before Ipswich Town, who City ironically open their campaign against on Friday night, decided to chance their arm at the final stages.

Akpom's head was turned, and now it appears that he is heading to Suffolk on an initial loan with a £7m obligation to buy if Town are promoted, despite Ajax 'putting pressure' on him to join Blues on a permanent deal.

Even if Akpom does go to Ipswich, Birmingham look set to sign Werder Bremen striker Marvin Ducksch, which opens doors for Pompey to strikers at both clubs perhaps looking for a way out.

Pompey should be looking at Al-Hamadi and Dykes

If the Akpom deal to Ipswich goes through, then there is a strong chance that Ali Al-Hamadi will find himself out of the door at Portman Road this summer. The Iraq international never quite found a regular starting spot in Suffolk, partly down to the impressive form of Liam Delap in the Premier League. Alas, his time at the Tractor Boys may well only be remembered for this awful FA Cup penalty against Bristol Rovers that went viral on social media.

However, there is a proven goalscorer in the striker. Just ask AFC Wimbledon fans, who saw him bag 27 goals in 48 games at the South London club. And, at only 23 years of age, he is surely only coming into his peak years and will relish the chance at playing under one of the brightest young managers in the EFL in Mousinho.

Whilst in the Second City, Birmingham may well be looking to offload some of their attackers. Given the amazing window that has also seen the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi and Demarai Gray come in, added to Jay Stansfield already being at the club, Lyndon Dykes may well be looking for pastures new after only one season at St.Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

The 29-year-old Scotland international, who has made 42 appearances and scored nine goals for his country, will surely see himself further down the pecking order given these new signings, despite playing 31 games in all competitions last season. He is a more experienced option than Al-Hamadi but certainly comes with plenty of second tier experience, having bagged 37 goals for Queens Park Rangers between 2020 and 2024.

Both strikers are likely to still be back-up to Bishop, but squad depth will be something that Mousinho will be looking to improve after last season, where he essentially was having to alternate teams between home and away matches, particularly at the turn of the year.