Former West Brom and Crystal Palace defender Nathan Ferguson is currently training with Pompey.
The 24-year-old Baggies youth-team product has been training with the Blues since they returned from their summer break at the end of last month, having also been invited to work with the Fratton Park outfit at the end of last season.
The free agent, whose promising career has been cruelly hampered by injuries, will be given a chance to prove his fitness, quality and durability when Pompey kick-off their pre-season friendly schedule against Woking on Tuesday night.
But who exactly is Ferguson and what have his previous bosses in the game said about him following his West Brom debut as an 18-year-old in a Championship fixture against Nottingham Forest in 2019?
Here’s what we found out.
Who is Nathan Ferguson and why has his career been stalled so much?
Nathan Ferguson is Championship action for West Brom against Bristol City in November 2019.placeholder image
Nathan Ferguson is Championship action for West Brom against Bristol City in November 2019. | Getty Images
Ferguson is a 24-year-old defender, who can operate at centre-back or full-back.
From Birmingham, he joined the Baggies as an eight-year-old and progressed through their youth ranks before Slaven Bilic handed him his senior debut against Forest at the start of the 2019-20 season.
Described as ‘the best defender they had ever produced’ by one experienced staff member at West Brom, the then teenager went on to make 21 appearances for West Brom as they won promotion to the Premier League.
However, his breakthrough campaign was accompanied by injury and interest from the likes of Juventus, AC Milan, Athletic Madrid and Marseille. Crystal Palace, meanwhile, saw a £9m bid for the youngster reluctantly accepted in January 2020, only for the move to fall through over concerns about a knee problem suffered.
With Ferguson rejecting the offer of a new five-year Hawthorns contract, his departure was inevitable and he completed a much-anticipated move to Selhurst Park in the summer of 2020 as a free-agent, with the Baggies receiving just £900,000 in training compensation.
Nathan Ferguson’s Crystal Palace career
The move to south London on a three-year contract materialised despite the injury that had ruled the defender out since January - and, unfortunately, injuries were to become a common theme during his time at Selhurst Park.
The knee problem picked up while playing for the Baggies prevented Ferguson from training until November 2020. And shortly after his return to the training pitch, in December, a thigh strain (three months), followed by a torn Achilles in the late spring, kept the defender out for a further sustained period.
Five-hundred-and-twenty-three days after his Palace arrival, Ferguson eventually made his Eagles debut against Spurs on December 26, 2021, as an 82nd-minute substitute.
Little did he know, though, that it would be his first and last appearance for the club. A hamstring injury picked up in February 2022 kept him out for the rest of the season, before a freak foot problem, a muscle injury and then another hamstring setback kept him on the sidelines.
Ferguson, who featured 10 times for Palace’s under-23 team in Premier League 2 as he attempted to retain his fitness issues, left the club in the summer of 2024 and has been without a club since.
What’s been said about Ferguson during his career
Former West Brom boss Slaven Bilicplaceholder image
Former West Brom boss Slaven Bilic | POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Speaking after scoring his first senior goal against QPR in September 2019, then WBA boss Slaven Bilic said: ‘Nathan is talented: he reminds me of Declan Rice. He is only 18 on paper but his head and mind is like he’s 25 or 27. He’s a kid in a positive way in that he is not afraid to play.
‘There is no doubt that he has an extremely bright future and great career in front of him.’
When Ferguson swapped the Hawthorns for Selhurst Park in the summer of 2020, Bilic added: ‘We gave him a chance when he was extremely young. He was one of those players where we said we didn't need anyone else in that position, because we believe in him big time.
‘To replace him, we would have to spend £15m for a full-back, and we can't spend that money on a player in that position.’
Following his Crystal Palace arrival, Eagles chairman Steve Parish commented; ‘Nathan is a fantastic signing for us, a player we’ve been committed to for a long time. He is hungry, focused, has a great attitude and he’s got an abundance of talent. It’s been a challenging six months for Nathan, and I’m genuinely so pleased for him that we have finally secured his services.’
Roy Hodgson was in charge of Palace when Ferguson signed for the club. He was also in control of the south London side’s first team when the player was handed a one-year contract extension in 2023.
After Ferguson signed that renewal, the former England boss said: ‘His negotiation of that tunnel has been incredible, really. To suffer so many setbacks and so many disappointments, at his age - I don't know that many people, quite frankly, that will come through that. So he must be a strong lad, he must be resilient, I like him very much as a person.
‘So no one would be happier than any of us out there to see Nathan Ferguson back with the first team 100% fit.
‘We would welcome him with open arms, but we have to be cautious, and it's going to be a process, which will probably take a bit longer than next week or the week after.’
With Pompey weighing up whether to hand the defender a playing contract at Fratton Park, head coach John Mousinho said: ‘We are just having a look at Nathan. He has been here for the last couple of weeks and we will try to find a spot for him in the games on Tuesday and Wednesday and then go from there.
‘We are just having a look at Nathan. He has been here for the last couple of weeks and we will try to find a spot for him in the games on Tuesday and Wednesday and then go from there.’
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