John Mousinho admitted Pompey had to move quickly to land Brentford youngster Jayden Meghoma before Tuesday's deadline.
But the head coach is excited by the 20-year-old’s signing and has detailed the exciting qualities he can bring to his side.
The Bees talent completed a temporary switch to Fratton Park in the closing stages of the summer market, penning a season-long loan deal.
Jayden Meghomaplaceholder image
Jayden Meghoma | Portsmouth FC
Meghoma is the solution to Mousinho’s left-back issues, with Zak Swanson currently playing out of position following the injuries to Connor Ogilvie and Jacob Farrell.
That department had been a priority position in the transfer window for the Blues, who were also linked with Liverpool’s Luke Chambers and Sheffield United’s Rhys Norrington-Davies.
The Reds opted against sanctioning a departure for Chambers, with Pompey believed to be favourites to land his signature.
And while Mousinho’s men had also enquired about Norrington-Davies’ availability this summer, Blades boss Chris Wilder was not willing to allow an exit for the Welshman.
Although the Blues were touted with both, moves for the duo failed to materialise, with the England youth international instead the man recruited to answer the head coach’s SOS.
Pompey boss lifts lid on Brentford loanee’s deadline day capture
And Mousinho has lifted the lid on the Pompey’s late-window pursuit of the former Rangers, Southampton and Preston North End man, insisting his side had to move quick before the deadline to complete his capture.
He told The News: ‘Jayden has had a very promising career so far.
‘He was excellent last year at Rangers, played a huge amount of games for such a young lad in a tough league. We’re really excited to have him in the building.
‘Relatively new. Sort of two or three days so we’ve been working on that pretty quickly. We had to move quickly to get it done.
‘I think he gives us something a little bit different. He’s quick, very good defensively in a one v one, provides a huge amount of athleticism there in that left back area and we’re really excited to have him.’
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Brentford youngster links up with team-mate at Pompey
Jayden Meghoma joins fellow Brentford loanee Benjy Arthur at Fratton Park.placeholder image
Jayden Meghoma joins fellow Brentford loanee Benjy Arthur at Fratton Park. | Jason Brown
After coming through the ranks at Spurs, Meghoma joined Southampton in 2022 before making a £5m switch to Brentford two-years later.
Since his multi-million pound switch to the Gtech Community Stadium, the young talent has registered four first-team appearances and also spent time on loan with Preston North End.
However, the left-back arrives at Fratton Park with his stock high after an outstanding season-long stay with Rangers, where he amassed 44 appearances last term - including eight Europa League outings.
His move represents the second arrival from the Bees this summer, with Meghoma joining fellow team-mate Benjy Arthur at Fratton Park.
The centre-back has had a positive start to life on the south coast, with three of his four Championship outings coming from the start.
And Mousinho believes the Blues’ strong relationship with Brentford was key behind Meghoma’s capture.
He added: I think so. We obviously spoke to Brentford about our plans for Benjy and what we expected from him.
‘He’s had a really good start to his career here and ultimately if players come here and do well they'll end up playing there.
‘We’ve also got very high hopes for Jayden as well.’