Portsmouth boss reveals latest on Callum Lang amid interest from Preston North End
Portsmouth boss John Mousinho has been talking about Callum Lang amid renewed interest from Preston North End
Preston North End target Callum Lang is ‘absolutely happy’ at Portsmouth.
That’s the verdict of Fratton Park boss John Mousinho who said there were no obvious signs of the player angling for a move away from the Championship strugglers amid interest from the Lilywhites.
The former Deepdale defender also added he had not been told of any developments that would suggest the forward’s two-year stay on the south coast was set to end.
Lang, who was the subject of interest from PNE in the summer, is currently out injured with his second hamstring injury of the season - an issue that has limited him to just eight appearances and two goals this term.
However, that hasn’t stopped North End registering their interest in the Liverpudlian again this month, with the LEP exclusively revealling last week that Paul Heckingbottom was once again prepared to test Portsmouth’s resolve in keeping the 27-year-old former Wigan favourite.
According to other reports, a £1.5m offer for the player has been turned down by the Blues.
Only five full days of the January transfer window remain for PNE to sort a deal or any other business they wish to conduct in order to get their promotion push back on track.
Heckingbottom is determined to add to his firepower and freed up a space to do so by allowing Will Keane to join League One Reading on loan.
Whether they can lure Lang back to the north-west remains to be seen, though. A task that seems a lot more difficult following Mousinho’s latest assessment of the situation.
What John Mousinho said about Callum Lang
The Portsmouth boss was asked about Lang on Wednesday, ahead of their huge game against fellow Championship strugglers West Brom at the weekend.
The forward is back training and could feature against the Baggies after missing the Fratton Park side’s past six games.
But when it came to his future, Mousinho told our sister paper The Portmsouth News: ‘Callum has been in full training this week. Is there anything in Preston? Not from my perspective.
‘I’ve had nothing to do with it. As far as I’m aware, he is ready and available for selection - maybe not for Saturday, but for Tuesday (Ipswich). If there is anything serious, the club I am sure will speak to me about it.
‘I think he’s happy, he seems very happy, but that is Callum for you. You can be happy at a club and want a move or do something else, that’s absolutely fine, I’m not saying Callum wants to leave at all. I haven’t even spoken to Callum about it.
‘He is absolutely happy. If there is any chance of a move, he is training like an absolute animal at the moment, so he’s not taking the brakes off or anything, he’s right at it!
‘He wants to play and I'm pretty sure he would have been ready to play if I had called upon him on Sunday (against Southampton), but he’d only had one training session.’
Lang’s contract at Portsmouth expires at the end of the season.
The Blues do have the option of an additional 12-month. Yet the fact the south-coast club haven’t tied him down to fresh terms amid others being handed new deals does open the door for interested parties like PNE to test the waters.
Mousinho added: ‘Cal is amazing to work with and that’s one of the reasons he’s done so well.
‘It’s nothing to do with me, but my answer would be I want Callum to be a Pompey player. You will have to ask someone else on that.’