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Our Pompey fan pundit is pleased that Freddie Potts is staying for the season, but does not see him joining permanently in the summer

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

West Ham's decision not to recall Freddie Potts from his loan spell at Portsmouth this month has been praised as the right one, but FLW's Pompey fan pundit is unsure if the Irons will let him move permanently to the south coast side in the summer window.

Potts joined John Mousinho's side last summer on a season-long loan, and that agreement is set to be honoured after West Ham decided against a recall, with the cutoff date to do so set for January 14.

The 21-year-old midfielder will now definitely see out the rest of the campaign at Fratton Park, which serves as a huge boost to Pompey, as he has been a key man in the middle of the park so far and will be important to their survival chances in the season's run-in.

Pompey fan pundit unsure if Freddie Potts will make permanent move after loan spell ends

Boss Mousinho confirmed that Potts will be at Portsmouth until the end of the season in the wake of another strong performance by the Hammers loanee in a 3-1 win against Stoke City in midweek, where he picked up an assist for Connor Ogilvie's second-half strike.

The 21-year-old has been on West Ham's books since the age of six, but has made just three appearances for their senior team so far, yet did pick up a medal after two of those outings were in the 2022/23 Europa Conference League, as they went on to win the trophy.

He impressed in the first loan of his career at Wycombe Wanderers last season, with 43 appearances in all competitions as he won their Supporters' Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards, but his performances have definitely gone up another level with Pompey in the Championship so far this term.

Potts has featured 23 times across league and cup for Portsmouth up to now, with one goal and four assists to his name, and he has been a consistent starter in midfield for the majority of the campaign.

Our Pompey fan pundit, Miltos Ioannidis, believes that the Hammers have made the right choice to keep Potts out on loan for the duration of the campaign, but he does not forecast the impressive youngster making a permanent move to Fratton Park when his temporary spell ends in May, as West Ham are likely to want to keep him on their books.

“I think, first of all, it absolutely is the correct decision for West Ham to keep Freddie Potts at Portsmouth for the rest of the season," Miltos told FLW.

“I am absolutely thrilled, as Freddie Potts has been an incredible player for us so far, and he keeps getting better and better as time goes by.

“I think from a West Ham perspective as well, I think it would have been wrong to interrupt his loan spell with us.

“While I have no doubts that Potts may be able to play for West Ham one day, as he has certainly got the capabilities to, I’m just not quite sure if he’s quite at that level yet and if he is ready to step up to the Premier League.

“You don’t want to interrupt a player’s development like that. I’m certain that West Ham have got other players in that position as well, like James Ward-Prowse, who is on loan at Nottingham Forest. They’d surely recall him first.

“Whether we pursue a transfer for Freddie Potts in the summer is a different question. I personally just can’t see West Ham letting him go.

“He’s a very highly-regarded youngster there, and I just can’t see West Ham selling him, to be honest.

“We should be trying to at least have a shot of securing his services, whether that is on loan again, or on a permanent deal. I’m just not sure of the probability of us signing him permanently.

“That is not because we aren’t ambitious enough, or wouldn’t try to sign him again, but because I think West Ham regard him as a player that could have an impact for them in the Premier League in the future.”

John Mousinho would surely love to keep Potts past this season

Portsmouth are set to be involved in a relegation battle as the campaign wears on, and Potts' short-term future being secured is absolutely vital to their chances of staying up, as the last thing they would have wanted to do this month was enter the market for a new midfielder to replicate his performances.

The 21-year-old has formed a great partnership with new arrival Isaac Hayden in recent weeks, with his experience and nous complimenting Potts' tenacity and drive, and boss Mousinho has recently praised his impressive showings, while admitting how pleased he is that he will see out the season at Fratton Park.

"We were always speaking to West Ham and they never said anything about wanting to recall him - and we were obviously aware of that," he told the Portsmouth News.

"Hopefully from West Ham’s point of view, they will look at it and see how well Freddie has done this year and think this is the right place for him.

"I thought Freddie was excellent against Stoke, a performance you wouldn’t necessarily expect from such a young player in the middle of the park playing game after game after game after game.

"There are still loads that Fred can improve upon. He was tenacious in the middle of the park and showed his quality in a really good all-round midfield performance, doing a couple of different jobs as well."

Whether West Ham would be happy to let him join Pompey permanently at the end of his loan deal remains to be seen, but numerous factors, including whether they are a Championship side or not, could play a part in that decision.

New Irons boss Graham Potter is likely focusing on the players that he has in his squad right now, and with the likes of Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez Guido Rodriguez able to play in Potts' position, it could well be that they are happy to loan him back out again for the 2025/26 campaign.