Portsmouth release Yengi as Swanson and Dozzell stay
Portsmouth have released Australian striker Kusini Yengi and taken up options to keep defender Zak Swanson and midfielder Andre Dozzell at the club.Yengi was a vital part of the Pompey side that won promotion to the Championship, making 31 appearances and scoring 13 goals across all competitions in the 2023-24 season. But this term he has struggled for fitness and opportunities, making 14 appearances with no goals.Swanson moved to Fratton Park from Arsenal in 2022 and agreed a new one-year contract in July. This season he made 32 appearances across all competitions with one goal.Dozzell joined the Blues last summer following his departure from QPR. He has been a regular in John Mousinho's side this campaign, featuring 41 times.Also departing are left-back Cohen Bramall, who the Blues signed in January on a deal until the end of the season, midfielder Tom Lowery, winger Anthony Scully and defender Alexander Milosevic. Goalkeeper Ben Killip - who started Portsmouth's final two games of the season - has been offered a new deal. He joined Pompey on a short-term deal in February.Portsmouth finished the season in 16th after they confirmed safety with two games to play.
'Not too many decisions to make' - Analysis
BBC Radio Solent's Portsmouth commentator Andrew Moon:Compared to previous seasons there were not too many decisions for Portsmouth's hierarchy to make at the end of this campaign regarding out-of-contract players.The most notable is the decision to let Kusini Yengi depart on a free transfer. The Australian had an impressive debut season in England but failed to score a single goal in the Championship in an injury-hit campaign. The Blues had a option for an extra year, so they could have taken that and looked to sell him, but options years almost always trigger a wage increase. And there is no guarantee of finding a willing buyer nor Yengi agreeing to a move.Zak Swanson was always going to be dilemma. He has made significantly more appearances in the Championship than in League One, and clearly has the technique and athleticism to play in the second tier.However, his performances have been up and down. He ended up playing just five more minutes during the remainder of the season after making errors for both Derby County's goals in the 2-2 draw at Fratton Park on 12 April. With Swanson, Jordan Williams and Terry Devlin, right-back is a tough position to call next season.Cohen Bramall showed some bright moments after arriving on a free transfer from Rotherham in January. He will have re-lived the final seconds of the loss at Coventry City in his mind countless times, and Portsmouth already have two contracted left-backs for next season, so it was always going to be a battle to stay.Ben Killip was solid in his two end-of-season outings and showed he would be a decent option as third-choice keeper.It was already publicly known that Championship survival would trigger a second year on Andre Dozzell's contract.Alexander Milosevic did not manage to make a single appearance after joining as a free agent. Tom Lowery and Anthony Scully have both been out on loan this season and were always going to depart.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
6 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Scotland man Angus Gunn understands Rangers' pursuit of Russell Martin
Gunn, who is training with the Scotland squad at Lesser Hampden this week ahead of the national team's friendly internationalist against Iceland at Hampden on Friday evening and Liechtenstein on Monday night, can understand why the Govan outfit's new hierarchy are interested in bringing him in. Read more: 'I only worked with him as a player at Norwich,' he said. 'He's a very intellectual guy. I went in there as a young goalkeeper and he helped me massively, even though he wasn't in the team every week and playing regularly. 'He was the captain of the club and he had good relationships with everyone in the dressing room. Obviously, watching what he's done at Southampton, I thought he'd done incredibly well there. 'He probably was unfortunate to lose his job there because it's always difficult for teams coming up from the Championship to even compete with some of the Premier League teams. (Image: Andrew Milligan) 'I watch him now on the TV and can see the way he wants to play and his philosophy. I really hope whatever he goes on to in his career is successful. 'I don't know if he's going to go to Rangers or not, but obviously he had a spell there as well, so he kind of knows the club a little bit. I think it would be a really good thing for the Rangers, to be fair.' Read more: Gunn, who is set to win his 16th cap for his adopted homeland against Iceland, knew early on that Martin, who played 29 times for the country of his father's birth in the 2010s, was destined to become a manager when he started playing with him at Norwich. 'There were a few other players in that dressing room who were like that,' he said. 'Steven Naismith was there as well. But you can definitely tell on the pitch when you're playing with players. They kind of start coaching whilst they're still playing, if you like, sort of organising on the pitch. 'He was one of them. But Russell wasn't just on the pitch, he was off the pitch as well, where he had close relationships with everyone. Even though, like I said, he wasn't a regular playing in the team, he was always on hand and always upbeat and a good person to go to.'
Glasgow Times
12 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Dealing with Southampton heat showed Russell Martin can hack Rangers
The Scotland goalkeeper, though, insisted he couldn't recollect that fateful moment in an English Championship match against Fulham at Craven Cottage eight years ago when he spoke to the media at Hampden yesterday. "I remember my debut,' he said following a national team training session at Lesser Hampden ahead of the friendly international against Iceland in Mount Florida on Friday night. 'But I can't remember him scoring against me, no. Did he? We won't mention that, because he's a good guy.' Yet, Gunn had no problem recalling what a fine footballer, inspirational leader and cerebral thinker on the game Martin, who had just been tipped to take over as manager at Rangers when he arrived at his press conference, was when they had played together at Carrow Road at the start of his professional career. The difficulties which Norwich experienced against the Swansea City and Southampton sides the former Scotland centre-half managed were also fresh in his mind. Read more: Opinion about the man who led the St Mary's Stadium outfit back into the Premier League via the end-of-season play-offs last year was sharply divided among fans of the Glasgow club. Many admitted they would have preferred Davide Ancelotti, Francesco Farioli or Steven Gerrard to succeed Philippe Clement. But Gunn was adamant that appointing Martin, who was sacked back in December following a disappointing run of results in the English top flight, would be no own goal by Rangers. 'It's hard to compare a promoted team going into the Premier League with a team like Rangers going into European games,' he said. 'But I think he showed what he can do as a manager, not only with Southampton but with Swansea as well. He took a team that wasn't expected to do much quite far into the Championship as well. 'I think it will be a positive thing for Rangers. But, obviously, the only thing that can bring those supporters round is probably him getting in the door and starting well. That's the only thing that can happen. "But Southampton were a tough team. We had a couple of good games against them. We saw the evolution of their team throughout the season. I think when we first played them, they were quite open. Then, when we played them again, they were a little bit more pragmatic. 'I think that shows a coach that can adapt and change the way his team plays. Watching his teams over the few years that he was there, I thought he did that. Even though some people probably said he was reluctant to change, I thought he did that quite well, especially in the Championship anyway. (Image: Andrew Matthews) "It is a difficult league to get out of. We had the pressure of them coming down as well. A lot of the teams find it quite hard. I was there at Southampton previously and I felt it. There was a lot of pressure on him and the team and he managed to deliver. 'I don't know if he's going to go to Rangers or not, but obviously he had a spell there as a player so he kind of knows the club a little bit. I think it would be a really good thing for the Rangers, to be fair.' Gunn always suspected that Martin, whose partner is former glamour model Lucy Pinder, who is a former member of the Green Party, who is a proponent of Buddhism and who is a vegan, was destined to move into management and his success with MK Dons, Swansea and Southampton in the past six years has not surprised him. 'I only worked with him as a player at Norwich,' he said. 'But he's a very intellectual guy. I went in there as a young goalkeeper and he helped me massively, even though he wasn't in the team every week and playing regularly. He was the captain of the club and he had good relationships with everyone in the dressing room. 'There were a few other players in that dressing room who were like that,' he said. 'Steven Naismith was there as well. But you can definitely tell on the pitch when you're playing with players who are going to go into management. They kind of start coaching whilst they're still playing, if you like, sort of organising on the pitch. Read more: 'He was one of them. But Russell wasn't just on the pitch, he was off the pitch as well, where he had close relationships with everyone. Even though, I wasn't a regular playing in the team, he was always on hand and always upbeat and a good person to go to. 'I watch him now on the television and can see the way he wants teams to play football and what his philosophy is. I really hope whatever he goes on to in his career is successful.' Gunn, who was released by Norwich at the end of last season, is eager to put a difficult season firmly behind him and is looking forward to featuring in both of the Scotland friendlies in the coming days and performing well for his country. 'The injuries have probably been the most challenging thing to me because I've not been injured too much in my career,' he said. 'Sometimes that's hard to deal with if you're not used to it. But I thought I dealt with it quite well. I came back, tried to come back stronger. 'Obviously, it's a different stage of my career now. I'm getting a little bit older and every year is different. From my point of view, I don't really look too much into the past. I'm more excited for the future.'
Daily Mail
17 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Liverpool star will NOT be part of potential Florian Wirtz deal as Reds prepare record bid with negotiations with Bayer Leverkusen ongoing
A Liverpool star will not be part of any potential deal for Florian Wirtz as the Reds prepare a record bid for the midfielder. Liverpool remain in negotiations with Bayer Leverkusen over a deal for Wirtz. Bayer want £120million and Liverpool are at £109m but Wirtz has made it clear he wants the move. The Germany star has been convinced by Arne Slot 's clear plan of where he will play in Liverpool's set-up as a No 10. Should the Reds accede to Bayer's demands, Wirtz would become the most expensive signing in British football, overtaking the £115m Chelsea paid Brighton for Moises Caicedo. Some reports had suggested that a Reds star would be part of the deal, but that won't be happening, with a cash-only deal on the table. That player is Harvey Elliott, who has suggested his future could lay away from Anfield. If that is to happen, however, the destination won't be Leverkusen. Richard Hughes, Liverpool's Sporting Director, has proposed a package to his Leverkusen counterpart Simon Rolfes with easily attainable performance-related bonuses, such as Champions League qualification but the clubs are yet to agree a final fee. Former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag was appointed Leverkusen's new head coach last week after Xabi Alonso departed to take charge of Real Madrid. Ten Hag has been out of work since being sacked by United in October but has wasted little time in looking to the Premier League to reshape his new squad. It's widely been accepted that Wirtz won't be part of that squad, but a deal with Liverpool is yet to be agreed after the player himself made it clear he wanted the Reds instead of Manchester City or Bayern Munich. 'I think it's been a lot more difficult for me because I obviously had that injury at the start,' Elliott told Liverpool Echo in April. 'But at the same time, you need to be here for the team, work as hard as you can and when the opportunities come on the pitch. 'A lot of times this season it's almost been [coming on] when we've been losing or drawing, so it is about trying to change the game, try and turn it around and have a positive impact. But, you know, any minutes for Liverpool are amazing.' 'I hope that I can push on. This is my team, I am committed to them and it's just a situation that is always going to have a lot of talk, I just need to think about what is best for my future, my career and as much as I want it to be here.' If Elliott is to leave, though, it will be in a separate deal to the one involving Wirtz. Arne Slot has also spoken to Rayan Cherki but the midfielder was viewed as a back-up option to Wirtz. Liverpool are also aware of interest from Al Nassr for winger Luis Diaz but have yet to receive an official approach. Wirtz, meanwhile, has taken to social media to hit out at the German press after one reporter suggested the forward would be looking to take Alexis Mac Allister's No 10 shirt should the move go through. 'Who says I want the 10,' Wirtz posted to his 3.3million Instagram followers. 'I respect players.' He added: 'Don't believe everything what's written,' accompanied by a clown emoji.
