John Mousinho makes Portsmouth transfer claim over ex-West Ham star - Charlton Athletic are in talks | OneFootball

Portsmouth had supposedly looked at bolstering their injury-hit squad with further experience

Portsmouth have endured a difficult second season back in the Championship so far, with the key aim for the Fratton Park outfit once again being that they ensure survival in the division.

It has been well-documented that John Mousinho has suffered a major injury crisis this term, which has hampered the Blues' prospects of progressing further up the second tier standings despite the fact their financial position is far weaker than several divisional counterparts.

Although it seemed as though the South Coast side had, to an extent, pulled clear of the relegation zone with crucial back-to-back 3-1 victories against South London opposition away from home in Charlton Athletic and Millwall, they were unable to record three-straight victories away from Fratton Park against Wrexham on Tuesday night, losing 2-1 to the in-form Red Dragons.

As such, Pompey are currently five points clear of Leicester City, who occupy 22nd place at present, with 12 fixtures still to play, meaning there is still plenty to play for throughout the run-in.

As previously mentioned, unavailability has been a major hindrance to Portsmouth this season, with the likes of Josh Murphy and Colby Bishop unable to build on their impressive individual campaigns last term as a result.

In the winter window, though, Mousinho was able to add the experience and creativity of Keshi Anderson on a free transfer, just days after the winger agreed to the mutual termination of his contract with fellow Championship outfit, Birmingham City.

And, in between Tuesday's defeat to Wrexham and the home clash with Hull City on Saturday lunchtime, Mousinho has revealed that they did express an interest in another high-profile free agent move, with the aforementioned Addicks also heavily involved in the transfer saga.

Speaking to local publication, the News, the Pompey boss has revealed that the club weighed up a potential transfer move for 35-year-old versatile forward, Michail Antonio, who was released by West Ham United last summer.

Antonio has not played a competitive club fixture since December 3, 2024 for the Hammers against Leicester, as he was involved in a serious car crash later in the month which left him with a broken femur in four places - albeit he did make three cameo appearances for Jamaica in the summer of 2025 at the Gold Cup.

Whilst often being a regular as a pundit on channels such as TNT Sports throughout his recovery process, it has been clear that the 24-time Jamaican international has looked for a route back into the professional game.

Earlier in the season, Antonio was seen training with Leicester, before former Foxes boss, Marti Cifuentes, revealed that a subsequent injury had put pay to the club's pursuit of his services on a fully-contracted basis, whilst Brentford were also unable to strike a deal.

It has since been claimed that Charlton are facing competition from Qatar Stars League side, Al-Sailiya, for his signature, whilst Mousinho has admitted that Antonio's profile didn't tick all boxes from a Portsmouth perspective.

"Without being harsh on anyone like that, I think physically having been in a really serious car accident bringing in a fantastic Premier League player like that, who is one we flagged and we looked at, we didn’t think it was the right profile to necessarily bring in," Mousinho explained.

"There wasn’t a huge amount else in that market who we felt could come in and affect the starting XI or squad. I guess that’s the take."

Goalscoring and chance creation has been a problem for Mousinho's side this season, with Adrian Segecic currently the top scorer with six goals, whilst Bishop and Ipswich Town loanee, Conor Chaplin, have scored just three goals between them thus far.

Antonio would certainly have added extra experience, but clearly he wasn't the right profile for the Blues boss, and there is also no guarantee that the Jamaican would be able to immediately return to his previous form, given that he hasn't played competitively for 14 months.