Portsmouth FC should have 'no regrets' after Preston transfer gamble - is John Mousinho now laughing? | OneFootball

FLW's Portsmouth fan pundit shares their thoughts on the sale of Callum Lang to Preston in the January window

Portsmouth have secured Championship safety, in what ended up to be in quite comfortable fashion, as those at Fratton Park look to build upon this success heading into next season.

Pompey, despite one of the lowest budgets in the league, have battled towards safety in the second tier once again, and will be rewarded with another year in the Championship next time around.

John Mousinho has done a wonderful job on the South Coast to guide the club from League One to Championship safety twice in a row, but those at the club will be increasingly eager to stave off any relegation threats next time around.

Portsmouth ended up losing just one of their final eight games, that being to eventual champions Coventry City, with crucial victories against Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town, and Leicester City enough to secure their safety.

However, eyebrows were raised in January when the club accepted a big bid from a division rival for one of their star attackers, plunging their survival hopes into doubt, but that decision now looks to have been vindicated.

Portsmouth sold Callum Lang to Preston North End in the January window

Callum Lang left Portsmouth in January to return to the North of England with Preston North End in a deal that could reach as much as £2 million, becoming the Lilywhites' record purchase in the process. The Englishman cited his desire to return closer to home for 'family reasons' as a huge factor behind the move.

The attacking-midfielder had scored ten and assisted twice in 32 appearances during the previous campaign, but has long struggled with injuries, with Pompey happy to take a risk and sell him in January, a decision which, at this stage, looks to have been the correct one.

Football League World's Portsmouth fan pundit, Miltos, shared his thoughts on the sale of Lang and whether it was the right move for the club to have made in retrospect.

Miltos said: "Now, first things first, I think we did very well to secure £2 million for Callum Lang. I think we all knew that he's an injury-prone player.

"On his day, he's unbelievable. I don't know if Preston fans were able to see that in the very limited games that he played for them. But albeit he's a very good player, he's very injury-prone, like I said. And I think the fact that we managed to secure the money that we did for Callum Lang is very good business from our side.

"Obviously, that transfer came during a period where results weren't going our way for the most part. So there was a bit of controversy there, about whether we should or not have sold Callum Lang, but I think we did well at the end of the day.

[We] might have secured the £2 million, which hopefully is going to go towards our transfer pot for the summer, and it's going to be important.

"And, no, no regrets, no looking back in terms of us telling Callum Lang. I think we did the right thing there, and we move on.

John Mousinho's gamble of selling Callum Lang has paid off

Lang's departure came at a risk, as whilst he has suffered with injuries across his career, not just at Portsmouth, there is little denying his attacking prowess and importance to the side when fit.

Mousinho took a risk and instead brought in Millenic Alli and Jacob Brown on loan from Luton Town to mitigate his departure, whilst Paraguayan winger Gustavo Cabellero joined on loan from Brazilian club Santos.

This, combined with the return of Josh Murphy and the extra emphasis placed upon Adrian Segecic, has been enough to eventually keep the club afloat.

Mousinho has since been linked with the vacant role at Bristol City, and those at Fratton Park will be keen for him to deny interest from Ashton Gate and lead the club into the next campaign.

Since Lang's departure, the 27-year-old has made just five appearances for Preston, with his injury woes continuing to affect his time on the pitch. If those struggles persist, Portsmouth have almost certainly done the correct thing in sanctioning his sale when they did.