Update emerges on Portsmouth's apparent transfer interest in 14-goal EFL forward | OneFootball

The League One promotion battle is set to be one that could be more competitive in 2023-24 than it was this season, where we saw three teams dominate in the race for the automatic places.

Big-spending Ipswich Town will be in the Championship and one of Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley will join them, and the teams coming down in Blackpool, Wigan Athletic and Reading do not look as strong on paper as previous sides to come down.

That could bring the likes of Bolton, Peterborough and Portsmouth into the automatics mix next season, with the latter of those teams going into their first full season with John Mousinho as head coach.

Pompey finished seven points off the play-off spots in the end with a flurry of late-season draws costing them a spot in the top six - they were outscored by many of their rivals as well and perhaps that is why they have been linked with a move recently for Cambridge United striker Sam Smith, who netted 14 times in all competitions this past season for the U's.

What is Sam Smith's current situation?

After helping Cambridge climb to safety from the relegation battle in League One with eight goals in his final 10 league matches of the season, Smith was a notable name on the club's retained list published two weeks ago.

It was not made clear as to whether Cambridge had offered Smith a fresh contract to remain at the club as it was not stated, but the likelihood is that the forward had made clear his intentions to move to a bigger club this summer.

And with the reported interest from Portsmouth around the very same time, it looked as though Smith may have had a move lined up already to a team that should be chasing promotion next season.

What is the latest on Portsmouth's interest in Sam Smith?

Whilst Pompey were interested in doing a deal for Smith as a free agent, it appears that their stance has now shifted somewhat.

According to a report from The News, Pompey are now set to shelve their plans to make an attempt to sign Smith this summer due to the fact they wouldn't be able to guarantee him first-team football, with Colby Bishop being Mousinho's undisputed first-choice in a lone striker role.

Pompey are now expected to look at other options to supplement Bishop in the 2023-24 season, and whilst a move for Smith has not been 100 per cent ruled out just yet, it looks less and less likely to happen at this moment in time.