Ex-Preston North End man coy over Portsmouth transfer links to former Lilywhite

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho has not shot down transfer links to former Preston North End man Josh Murphy.

Ex-PNE midfielder Mousinho guided Pompey to the League One title and is now building a squad for next season in the Championship. He released 10 players on the back of promotion, including former Preston defender Joe Rafferty. The Fratton Park side have made one addition to date, that being full back Jordan Williams - who will leave Barnsley upon the expiry of his contract.

Murphy, though, is one player who has been linked with Pompey. The 29-year-old was the hero at Wembley, as Oxford United beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0 in May’s play-off final. He is yet to sign a new contract at the Kassam Stadium, amid links to the likes of West Brom, Derby County and QPR - as well as Portsmouth.

On the speculation, Mousinho said: The truth on that is I know Josh, and he’s a fantastic player. He had a really good back end to the season but for those kind of players, whether there’s interest or not, we want to keep everything respectful of the players, other clubs and everything else going on. There are links with Josh because I played with him previously, but whether we’ve got any interest or not it’s something we have to leave alone and not really comment on.”

Murphy was signed on loan from Cardiff City by Preston during the 2021/22 season, but a calf injury blighted that spell - which ended up being cancelled early. He did not score in his 12 appearances for North End and Oxford then swooped in for him that summer. Last season, the forward scored eight goals in 31 appearances for the U’s.