FINAL WORD; WHO'S IN WHO'S OUT

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Previously titled “7.00PM WINDOW SLAMS” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 6, 2026

Pompey Sound Podcasts 12 min 4 chapters transcribed

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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

What are the latest updates on Portsmouth's transfer window?

0:02

The latest Pompey news updates every day from the Pompey Sound News Desk. Here's how the final hours of the window unfolded as the clock ticked through the afternoon and the rumour mill went into overdrive. At 2pm Football League World were claiming an exclusive, that Portsmouth were in advance talks to sign Luton Town forward, Jacob Brown. They said that Barnsley had been favourites to sign him, but that he reportedly found a move to the Championship more attractive. The 27-year-old forward had only managed seven goals in 60 games in Bedfordshire, but was returning to full fitness and hungry to prosper. The rumour was being repeated in Luton, and also in Portsmouth by the news. As 2pm passed the rumour persisted that Pompey's pursuit of Dundee's Luke Graham was still alive, and that Pompey had increased their offer to more than a million, with Dundee risking a rift between the owners and the manager, with the owners seemingly interested in boosting their bank balance, and the manager desperate to keep as many of his quality players as possible.

1:00

Also at 2 o'clock there was no further news on the gossip that Moneybags Wrexham were planning a last-minute swoop for Terry Devlin, jangling their trouser pockets with a sum of money which for them is loose change namely £2m. So at 2pm, with just five hours to go, there are no less than seven players connected with Pompey one way or another, whose futures are up in the air. Now we were told by management that it was probably going to go down to the wire, and it really is going down to the wire, middle of the afternoon, and there are no announcements about Luke Graham, Jacob Brown, Callum Lang, Terry Devlin, Gustavo Caballero, Jacob Farrell and Luke Leroux. And at the beginning of the transfer window, it was expressed in a number of places.

1:41

And I believe John Massino is somebody who also suggested this, that such was our need with such a set of injuries that we better get busy in the transfer window if we're going to do well in January. And we've got some important games in January. Well, we got kind of busy, but not as busy as we're going to be in the last few hours of this transfer window. There are seven telephone lines that are too hot to touch at the moment at Fratton Park, dealing with all these various negotiations.

Who are the players linked to Portsmouth during the transfer window?

2:11

But in the month of January, started off really badly with a defeat 5-0 to Bristol. And did we panic? We did not panic. And we went unbeaten in the remaining four games of January, getting three points against Chef Wednesday, getting a point against Watford, getting a point from that lot up the road, and getting three fantastic points. Should have been four or five, really. We played that well against West Brom. What do we know? We know at two o'clock in the afternoon that there is lots of frantic activity going on, but we're probably not going to hear anything concrete until around about seven or maybe even later, which is very frustrating because Pompey fans are spending the whole afternoon on...

2:51

By 3pm with just four hours left of the window, the announcement that Gustavo Caballero had signed from Santos was not merely hoped for and predicted but expected, yet still hadn't happened. The rumour appeared so strong, fortified by a phone photo of the Santos winger-cum-striker enjoying a cup of coffee in an out-of-town diner near Fratton Park, that many fans were under the illusion they had already seen him in a blue shirt sitting at the usual desk, signing the usual contract, with the usual I'm so glad to be at Portsmouth smile, and the usual upside-down pen. 3pm came and went and in addition to the radio silence about Caballero, there was no official announcement about the futures of Jacob Farrell and Luke Leroux, both of whom are thought to be poised to pack a Samsonite if a deal can be done to send them out on loan.

3:39

As the clock passed 3pm, there was likewise nothing announced about Callum Lang and Preston, and no updates on either Luke Graham or Jacob Brown. As for Terry Devlin and Wrexham, again, sweet nothing.