Director reveals ambition to re-sign Manchester City midfielder following Championship promotion

Portsmouth sporting director Rich Hughes has revealed an ambition to re-sign Manchester City midfielder Alex Robertson next season.

The on-loan Manchester City youngster helped Portsmouth secure promotion to the Sky Bet Championship despite seeing his season-long loan at Pompey dramatically cut short in January due to a hamstring injury.

The 21-year-old suffered a serious injury during a training session, sidelining the player for the remainder of the campaign, as Portsmouth were crowned Sky Bet League One winners.

The Scotland-born midfielder has been an unused substitute on four occasions for Pep Guardiola in the past, featuring in the Blues’ first-team squad on occasion across the Premier League, Carabao Cup and UEFA Champions League during the 2022/23 season.

Robertson registered five direct goal involvements for Portsmouth, and was enjoying his first English loan spell, after previously spending time at Ross County in Scotland.

The midfielder made 23 league appearances before suffering a hamstring injury in the new year, and also featured in the Emirates FA Cup, Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy for Portsmouth.

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho has previously revealed a desire to re-sign Robertson, something now reiterated by the club’s sporting director Rich Hughes.

“Alex (Robertson) is a really good player, we like him. He’s still recovering from his injury, so we have to let that pan out, but again if there was an opportunity for us to revisit those conversations, we absolutely would do,” he told local outlet The News.

Manchester City’s loanee’s from the City Football Academy have enjoyed notable success this season, with 20-year-old defender Callum Doyle also achieving promotion with Leicester City back to the Premier League.