Bafana Bafana midfielder makes Portsmouth debut | OneFootball

Le Roux makes official Portsmouth debut

Photo: BackpagePix

South African midfielder Luke Le Roux made his competitive debut for English Championship outfit Portsmouth in their EFL Carabao Cup 2-1 defeat to Reading, lasting 70 minutes as he was named on the starting XI.

The 25-year-old dynamic midfielder signed for the English side in July from Swedish topflight team Varnamo, where he emerged as one of the influential players in the league. Le Roux inked a three-year deal that will run until June 2028 with Pompey.

As one of the standout performers in Sweden, Le Roux attracted interest from a host of clubs in Europe, including in the French Ligue 1. Before his move to England, a potential transfer to Hammarby collapsed as the two clubs couldn’t strike an agreement on a fee.

The former Stellenbosch development player spent the last five years abroad since departing the now-defunct SuperSport United for Sweden in 2020. His spell in Europe includes a one-year stint with Dutch side FC Volendam.

Now, Le Roux, who rose through the South African national team youth ranks, is a current senior international with seven caps under his belt, since making his debut under Belgian mentor Hugo Broos back in September 2022.

Meanwhile, his compatriot, Tylon Smith, who also completed an off-season move to the Championship, made his official Queens Park Rangers (QPR) debut in a 3-2 EFL Carabao Cup defeat to Plymouth Argyle.

The South African under-20 international is currently featuring for QPR’s under-21’s as the club looks to slowly integrate him into the first-team. In his homeland, the Stellenbosch academy product was named Dstv Diski Challenge [DDC] player of the season for the 2024/25 campaign.

Smith secured a move to the Championship on the back of a stellar under-20 Africa Cup Of Nations (AFCON) showing, helping his country to win the continental showpiece for the first time in its history, and was crowned player of the tournament in the process.