"We should be hesitant" - Portsmouth FC told to avoid £1m deal for Notts County star | OneFootball

The Magpies striker has been in excellent form this season, and is attracting Championship interest.

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...

Portsmouth have recovered from a difficult start to the season to climb out of the relegation zone, and after back-to-back wins in the Championship, excitement is building at Fratton Park.

Pompey make the trip to The Hawthorns on Saturday to face West Bromwich Albion, with the chance to extend their gap over the bottom three, with plenty of relegation six-pointers featuring over the course of this weekend.

John Mousinho added to his striking force earlier in the week by bringing Thomas Waddingham to the club from Australian side Brisbane Roar for £200k.

Despite the addition of the 19-year-old, Portsmouth are still keen to strengthen further up front, with Notts County's Alassana Jatta on their radar. However, they face competition from Bolton Wanderers and Plymouth Argyle, and the latter have already had a £750k bid rejected.

Portsmouth urged to avoid Jatta deal

The Magpies striker has been in excellent form this season, scoring 12 goals in 20 appearances in League Two.

Jatta made the switch to Meadow Lane in February 2024 from Danish side Viborg FF, and it is clear that he has the ability to play in a higher division sooner rather than later.

However, Football League World's Portsmouth Fan Pundit, Miltos Ioannidis, believes that Mousinho should avoid a move for the 26-year-old this month.

When asked by FLW if he believes that Pompey should push for the forward with Kusini Yengi's future up in the air, he said: "Admittedly, I do not know too much about Jatta, only the occasional videos that I've seen from a few Notts County supporters on X, he looks a good player.

"But again, I remember about a month ago I said that we should probably be looking to strengthen the attacking department and how we were looking short in the striker position and now, all of a sudden, we're being linked with strikers left, right and centre.

"It’s one of those where I just want to see if anything in this rumour actually materialises, because at the moment I really can't see us pursuing a deal of that magnitude. Notts County are asking for £1m I don't know if we would be quite willing to spend that amount of money considering the fact that we just brought a striker in. We have Colby Bishop as well and Kusini Yengi, who could admittedly leave."

Miltos continued: "But I think for now what I would say is let's wait and see the validity of this rumour. Notts County obviously have a pretty good talent ID track record. I remember Ruben Rodrigues when they were in the National League. They bought him from a team in the Dutch second tier. Now he's playing for Oxford.

"They know what they're doing in terms of transfers, and they obviously want to make the most out of Jatta in terms of price, so let's wait and see if anything materialises.

"For now, I think it is looking like a transfer that we should be hesitant to make, considering that we've got other strikers right now in the building, and the price, £1m, does sound like a lot."

Portsmouth's ambitions are clear with Jatta interest

Pompey have occupied the drop zone for the majority of the season, but their improvements are clear to see, and their home form has been a great help in the battle for survival.

There have been fears about Portsmouth's forward line, but after Bishop's return to the first team, and now the addition of Waddingham, Mousinho has the players in the squad that he needs to push away from the bottom three.

Jatta will only help with that, but there is the possibility that his game time would be limited at Fratton Park, and with Notts County looking for £1m, this is a lot of money for a player who may not start firing straight away.