Rangers have missed a transfer trick after 2020 Ibrox leak - Portsmouth are laughing | OneFootball

We may never know whether the leaking of a stadium welcome cost Rangers a deal for Adrian Segecic, but Portsmouth have benefitted from having him.

Adrian Segecic has become a key part of Portsmouth's team since he signed from Sydney FC in 2025, and he might never have arrived at Fratton Park had a chase for his signature while he was still a teenager gone differently.

Following an early exit from the EFL Cup at West Ham United and an opening-day home loss to Queens Park Rangers in the Championship, Portsmouth finally got their 2026-27 up and running with a 3-1 win at Lincoln City on Saturday.

Since winning promotion as League One champions in 2024, Pompey's main target has been to stay in the Championship, and they've been successful in their first two seasons back, having finished 16th and 18th in the table.

One of the key components to their team scored for them in that win at Lincoln, to go on top of scoring their goal in the EFL defeat at West Ham.

Adrian Segecic, who signed for them from Sydney FC in June 2025, has become an integral part of John Mousinho's team over the last 12 months, with twelve goals and six assists in 43 appearances for them in all competitions since his arrival.

Yet things could have gone very differently, had a multi-club chase for his signature in 2020 ended as was expected at the time. Segecic's talents were recognised from an early age, and while still a teenager there were a host of clubs queuing up with an interest in acquiring his services. And one of them may even have been preparing to unveil his signature.

Portsmouth star Adrian Segecic has showed promise from a very early age

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Born in the Sydney suburb of Westmeads, it didn't take long before Adrian Segecic's potential was recognised, and by the time he was 12 he was on the books of A-League side Sydney FC.

By the age of 15, he was playing for their youth team and was already attracting attention from elsewhere.

Segecic was reported to be of interest to a host of clubs, including Liverpool, Manchester City, Leeds, Chelsea, Wolves, Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb, but it's believed to be Rangers who came the closest to signing him.

A move to Glasgow was considered a done deal when, on the 16th September, a Rangers fan account tweeted pictures from inside Ibrox, one of which showed Segecic's face on a big screen with "Rangers welcome Adrian Segecic" and the other showing somebody - presumed to be Segecic emerging from the player's tunnel inside the stadium.

The leak was picked up by the media, but no announcement came from the club.

Segecic stayed at Sydney FC and made his A-League debut for them in December 2021. The following May, still a month shy of his 18th birthday, he signed a three-year contract with Sydney FC, tying his future to his first senior club. The reason why Rangers were unable to get a deal over the line for him was never definitively confirmed.

What's been said about Adrian Segecic by fans on social media

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Adrian Segecic's performances have drawn attention on social media since he signed for Portsmouth, so here's a selection of what's been said about him.

This German fan feels that Bundesliga clubs should be acting to trying to get his signature at the end of the 2026-27 season (although he's wrong about Segecic's contract expiring in 2027 - it's understood that his contract is for three years, meaning that it will expire in 2028):

But this Portsmouth fan feels that his club should be trying to tie the player down to a long-term contract now:

And this Portsmouth fan believes that Segecic could be going on to great things:

Adrian Segecic hasn't only been the subject of a tug-of-war in the club game

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Adrian Segecic has been of interest to a number of clubs throughout his nascent club career, but he's also been the subject to a tug-of-war over his international status.

Although born in the suburbs of Sydney, he qualified to play international football for both Australia and Croatia through his grandparents.

He represented Australia at under-13, under-15 and under-20 levels, but on the 13th March 2026 it was confirmed that he'd switched his allegiance with FIFA to Croatia, and he made his debut for their under-21s just 18 days later, bagging an assist in a 3-0 win against Turkey.

The decision caused outrage in Australia. Segecic was considered one of their brightest young talents.

He'd won the A-League's Golden Boot in his last season before leaving for Portsmouth, and had even been included in their full national team's squad, although head coach Tony Popovic hadn't selected him to play by that point.

It was considered a failure on the part of the Australian game that he slipped through their fingers, and has even led to him already having been described as "the one who got away."

It was widely presumed that Segecic's switch was made with one eye on the possibility of a call-up for their 2026 World Cup squad, but this never came.

Still, though, with Croatia's team aging and their captain/talisman Luka Modric having passed forty years of age, his recruitment is a shrewd one for his new country.

Segecic has two years to run on his contract, but Portsmouth may have to fend off interest in him

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With a three-year deal having been agreed in 2025, Portsmouth are safe with Adrian Segecic for now. With two years still to run on his contract, there's no immediate need for them to act on getting him tied down for longer.

His explosive start to this season will, however, have drawn attention from elsewhere. His two goals from outside the penalty area in Portsmouth's first three games of this season come on top of him having ended 2025-26 by scoring five times in his last three games for them, including bagging a hat-trick against Stoke City.

Manager John Mousinho was prepared for interest in him over the course of this summer, but this hasn't yet materialised, even though, with a week of the summer window left to run, there's plenty of time for somebody to step in and make an offer for him.

But Portsmouth would be under no obligation sell, even if someone did, and if the player did want to challenge himself at a higher level, the club could hold out for a handsome fee for him. For now, though, it seems that this is for the future.

Unless something changes dramatically, Portsmouth have a player on their hands who's in white-hot form, and that could go a long way towards securing their Championship safety for a third consecutive season.

Rangers may well be left wondering how different their last 12 months might have been, had they managed to secure a deal for him all the way back in 2020.