John Mousinho reveals how close he actually was to leaving Portsmouth for Bristol City | OneFootball

John Mousinho was linked with taking over at Bristol City earlier this summer

John Mousinho is preparing to oversee his third Championship campaign with Portsmouth.

The 40-year-old has earned a lot of credit for his work at Fratton Park since taking over as head coach in January 2023.

He led the Hampshire outfit to promotion to the second tier in 2024, and the team came 16th and 18th over the last two years.

Portsmouth will be keen to improve on that position over the next 12 months, and the summer transfer window could go a long way to help accomplish that.

But Mousinho’s future at Fratton Park wasn’t so clear cut just a couple of months ago, with the coach linked to rivals Bristol City.

However, he ultimately remained with the Championship side, with Michael Skubala instead filling the vacancy at Ashton Gate.

John Mousinho opens up on Bristol City interest

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Mousinho has spoken for the first time about how close he came to leaving Portsmouth over the summer, confirming interest from Bristol City.

He claimed that the Robins never made an official approach for the 40-year-old, but that they held talks over a potential move to the club.

“To a certain extent [there was interest],” said Mousinho, via The News.

“There was some real interest at the start of the summer. The one that had the most air time was Bristol City.

“There was an initial conversation between the club and my agent, but it didn’t get any further than that. No official approach.

“I spoke to the club about it early on, as per my contract, just to make sure everybody's on the same page. Absolutely nothing progressed.”

Mousinho has suggested that the speculation over his future at Portsmouth was a tad overblown, and that the discussions with Bristol City were the only real interest he had from elsewhere, indicating his future is now with his current club.

“Bristol City didn’t contact the club or ask to speak to me so that got a lot more air time than perhaps what was going on behind closed doors and that was dealt with fairly swiftly,” Mousinho added.

“That was the one bid of real interest, there were a couple of other bits of minor interest that never went beyond that.

“To be honest it was a very calm summer after the first couple of weeks of wild speculation.

“And a lot of it I just watched with interest from afar knowing that it wasn’t true.”

Mousinho made his first step into management when he took charge of Portsmouth three-and-a-half years ago.

He previously played for the likes of Wycombe Wanderers, Preston North End and Burton Albion before ending his career with Oxford United in 2023.

The 40-year-old earned a lot of credit for guiding Pompey to promotion in 2024, with the club making their return to the Championship for the first time since 2012.

The Hampshire outfit’s long-term goal will be to compete for promotion back to the Premier League, where they haven’t competed since 2010.

Meanwhile, Bristol City will be aiming to get back into contention for a play-off place after a disappointing campaign.

Gerhard Struber arrived as head coach last summer after their sixth-placed finish, but he was dismissed in late March with the team out of contention for promotion.

The Robins ended the season with Roy Hodgson in charge on an interim basis, coming 12th in the table.

But they will be hoping Skubala can guide the club to a top eight finish, with the play-offs now expanding to include a further two teams from next season.

Portsmouth need to back John Mousinho to keep him around for the long-term

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It was hardly a surprise when clubs like Bristol City were taking a look at Mousinho, as he has done quite well with limited resources at Portsmouth in the last couple of seasons.

His side have steered clear of a relegation battle on both occasions, and he should now be receiving ample backing from the owners.

If Pompey don’t invest in Mousinho’s vision for the team, then they will be at risk of losing him again in the very near future.

Because if he can keep up this positive work at Fratton Park, then it will only be a matter of time before more rival teams take an interest in appointing him.