Portsmouth FC may have struck transfer gold - It will ease Abu Kamara blow | OneFootball

Adrian Segecic's strong start to life at Portsmouth may ease some of the disappointment at missing out on Abu Kamara.

It is fair to say it has been a mixed start to the new season for Portsmouth in the Championship.

It was a turbulent campaign for Portsmouth last season in their first year back in the Championship, but they eventually recorded a 16th-placed finish, with their impressive form at Fratton Park helping to keep them clear of the relegation zone.

As they look to continue to establish themselves in the second tier, Pompey have brought in six new signings this summer, with John Swift, Mark Kosznovszky, Luke Le Roux and Adrian Segecic all arriving on a permanent basis, while Florian Bianchini and Yang Min-hyeok have joined on loan.

Portsmouth began their season with a 1-0 victory at Oxford United on the opening weekend, but they have since suffered back-to-back home defeats, first exiting the EFL Cup after a 2-1 defeat to League One side Reading before losing 2-1 to Norwich City in the league on Saturday.

While they almost rescued a point after a late onslaught, Pompey's defeat to the Canaries highlighted that they are still in need of reinforcements before the end of the transfer window, particularly in the wide areas after Callum Lang was forced off with a hamstring injury, but one player they will not be signing is Hull City winger Abu Kamara.

Portsmouth facing further disappointment in Abu Kamara pursuit

Kamara spent the 2023-24 season on loan at Portsmouth from Norwich as they won the League One title, and supporters have been clamouring for his return ever since.

As the old adage goes, you should never fall in love with a loan player, but the Pompey faithful certainly became attached to Kamara as he scored 10 goals and provided 11 assists in 52 appearances to help the club secure a return to the Championship for the first time in 12 years.

Manager John Mousinho revealed that he would have liked to re-sign Kamara last summer following promotion, but the winger instead joined Hull for a fee that was believed to be in excess of £5 million, and the Portsmouth chief admitted that the figure it would have taken to land his signature was "certainly not what we’d be able to pay".

Kamara scored five goals and registered three assists in 37 appearances for the Tigers last season, with the East Yorkshire outfit ironically ensuring survival with a draw at Fratton Park on the final day of the campaign, but his future has been the subject of speculation this summer.

It was claimed earlier in the summer that Pompey were keen to bring Kamara back to the club if he was allowed to leave the MKM Stadium, but rather than returning to the South Coast, he is now reportedly closing in on a move to Spanish side Getafe.

The deal is expected to be confirmed in the coming days, and that will mark the end of Portsmouth's long-running pursuit of Kamara, but while there will be plenty of disappointment among supporters at missing out on their former loanee, a new fan favourite may already be emerging.

Adrian Segecic may help Portsmouth supporters forget Abu Kamara transfer miss

There have been a fair few negatives for Portsmouth in their opening three games of the season, but the performances of new signing Segecic have undoubtedly been one of the main positives.

Segecic joined Pompey from Sydney FC in the summer as a relative unknown, but he scored an impressive 18 goals and provided three assists in just 35 appearances for his former club last season, while he has also featured for Australia at various youth levels, so he arrived at Fratton Park with an exciting pedigree.

Portsmouth supporters may not have been particularly familiar with Segecic, but he has announced himself in some style, first scoring the winner in the opening day victory at Oxford before getting on the scoresheet again in the defeat to Norwich on Saturday, while he also provided an assist after coming off the bench in the EFL Cup loss to Reading.

Of course, it is important that Pompey fans do not get carried away by Segecic's start to life at the club and put too much pressure on him, but the way he has seamlessly adapted to the Championship certainly offers reason for encouragement, and Mousinho himself admitted that he "would have hated to play against" the midfielder.

Despite achieving survival, Portsmouth were arguably too reliant on Lang and Colby Bishop last season, so Mousinho will need more players from across the team to contribute in the attacking areas, and on the early evidence, Segecic looks capable of easing the goalscoring burden on the pair.

Given their current shortage of wingers, there may still be some who are longing for Kamara's return, but Segecic has made a strong first impression, and, crucially, he is under contract until the summer of 2028, so Pompey supporters will be able to enjoy much more of him over the coming years.