Portsmouth set to complete Derby County raid - 6-figure transfer fee has been revealed | OneFootball

Ebou Adams appears set for a move to Fratton Park

Portsmouth are reportedly closing in on a deal to sign Derby County midfielder Ebou Adams after a six-figure deal was struck between the two Championship clubs.

That is according to a fresh update from Dominic Dietrich of BBC Derby Sport on Friday morning, after it was first claimed on Thursday night that the clubs had made significant process in concluding the transfer for the Gambian.

The current winter transfer window has already seen a plethora of Championship clubs busy in the market in order to help them achieve their short-term goals for the remainder of the second tier campaign.

Pompey and the Rams were, of course, promoted alongside each other at the climax of the 2023/24 League One season, with the South Coast side returning to the second tier after over 10 years away, whilst the East Midlands outfit looked to continue their progression under the ownership of David Clowes after a turbulent recent past which followed a handful of failed promotion attempts to the Premier League.

For both clubs, their second successive season back in the Championship has yielded differing fortunes, with the campaign just over the halfway point in terms of matches played.

Portsmouth have found it extremely tough to steer themselves clear of the relegation zone, which, in turn, has seen John Mousinho come under pressure at Fratton Park across varying points since August. They are currently one place and a point above Norwich City, but do have the minor luxury of two matches in hand over Philippe Clement's resurgent Canaries.

Meanwhile, after a sluggish start to John Eustace's first full season in charge at Pride Park, Derby shot themselves into play-off contention with a strong run of form between October and November. However, a mixed run of results since then, coupled with injuries to key players, has seen the Rams slip down to 13th in the table, six points behind Watford in sixth.

As previously mentioned, though, it was a summer of high turnover in DE24, with several players moving to Pride Park across all departments in Eustace's squad, and they added to that particular raft with the acquisition of Danish midfielder and long-term target, Oscar Fraulo, from Borussia Mönchengladbach, during the first week of the window.

As such, question marks have been raised over Adams' future with the Rams, who now appears to be set for his next career move, albeit still in the Championship.

Portsmouth and Derby County agree six-figure transfer agreement for Gambian midfielder Ebou Adams

Adams has spent the past two years with Derby after initially arriving from Cardiff City on a six-month loan during their automatic promotion charge under Paul Warne in the first half of 2024, before subsequently penning a three-year contract with the Rams after their return to the Championship was secured.

The 30-time international has become a midfield regular and firm favourite with Derby supporters over time for his work rate, tenacity and eye for the occasional goal, making the step-up back into the Championship seamless as his current employers eventually survived at the expense of his former, who were relegated down to League One at the end of last season after a calamitous campaign.

During his two years at Pride Park, Adams has featured 89 times overall, providing Warne and, currently, Eustace with a total of eight goals and two assists.

The 30-year-old Londoner was also named as captain by Eustace for the final 13 games of last season as Derby eventually secured their survival on the final day, with, arguably, Adams' finest performance in black and white coming in a crucial 3-1 victory at West Bromwich Albion last April, where he provided a goal and assist.

So far this season, the seasoned campaigner has still made 26 appearances across all competitions, with the last of those being a 45-minute substitute cameo against Leeds United in the FA Cup.

However, that could be his last outing for the Rams altogether, as after Pete O'Rourke initially revealed that a fee had been agreed and that Adams was set for talks and a medical at Fratton Park, the aforementioned Dietrich has claimed that the deal struck is worth £500,000.

After what has been a difficult campaign thus far for Portsmouth, adding Adams to their ranks for such a low cost is an extremely shrewd move.

The midfielder will add further experience to what is already a strong squad in that regard, and his previous feats at Pride Park will also only be an extra benefit to Mousinho.

Adams will also add extra cover to his midfield ranks, with Mark Kosznovszky expected to be sidelined for between nine and 12 months after sustaining a serious ACL issue against Charlton Athletic on December 29th.