The England Under-17 international has made six appearances and scored once since joining from Stamford Bridge
John Mousinho reflected on the challenge of managing Ryan Kavuma-McQueen’s first-team minutes and warned: We can’t flog him.
Easing the talented 17-year-old into Championship football is a delicate balancing act for Pompey’s head coach.
Ryan Kavuma-McQueen has made six appearances since his arrival on loan from Chelsea. Picture: Jason Brownplaceholder image
Ryan Kavuma-McQueen has made six appearances since his arrival on loan from Chelsea. Picture: Jason Brown | Jason Brown
The winger’s scheduled season-long loan represents a first spell away from Chelsea in his fledgling career, having stepped away from the PL2 to benefit his hugely-promising development.
As a consequence, Kavuma-McQueen hasn’t featured longer than 65 minutes for the Blues during his three starts, irrespective of the consistent quality of performances.
Meanwhile, a double fracture on his right hand, coupled with Tyrese Shade’s arrival, has seen the teenager drop to the bench for Pompey’s last two fixtures against Cardiff and Charlton.
But Mousinho is adamant Kavuma-McQueen is edging ever closer to being able to feature for a full 90 minutes after six first-team outings so far.
‘We have to give him the appropriate amount of rest when he needs it’
He told The News: ‘That’s the key really, to make sure first of all physically we don’t flog Ryan and we give him the appropriate amount of rest when he needs it.
‘Hence, when he’s started, we’ve brought him off in a couple of games relatively early, even though he has been growing into them.
Ryan Kavuma-McQueen has impressed since joining Pompey. Picture: Jason Brownplaceholder image
Ryan Kavuma-McQueen has impressed since joining Pompey. Picture: Jason Brown | Jason Brown
‘For example, he’s not used to playing Saturday-Tuesday games with the PL2 programme, so we have to expect the highs and lows of what you get with a young lad.
‘Ryan is building himself in terms of his fitness. The way the PL2 programme is set for the fixture list means you play once a week at most and you have a long break over Christmas, so we’ve really got to manage him physically.
‘At some point he will be ready for 90 minutes no doubt - and that will be my call, not Chelsea’s.’
Broken two bones in a finger on his right hand
Kavuma-McQueen made his Blues debut last month as a half-time substitute for Luke Brooke-Smith and instantly impressed.
He then marked his full Football League debut with the opening goal in a 3-1 success at Lincoln, which also marked Pompey’s maiden win of the 2026-27 season.
Get access to trustworthy local news for just £5 - sign up for a digital subscription to The News
However, a second-half collision with an advertising hoarding against Derby at the start of this month saw the youngster fracture a finger on his right hand in two places. He subsequently turned down an operation in favour of wearing a protective cast on his wrist.
Since then, Shade, who was recruited from Burton in a £1.8m move on deadline day, has started both matches in the left-wing spot.
Kavuma-McQueen, who is an England Under-17 international, was introduced from the bench in each and has continued to impress with his energy, maturity and physicality.
Read More
And with England Under-18s friendlies scheduled against Columbia (September 24) and Egypt (September 27) in forthcoming the international break, it will be interesting whether he will now step up an age level to participate.
Mousinho added: ‘I am really pleased with Ryan, he has come in and had a massive impact as a 17-year-old.
‘You don’t see many of those around at this level.’
Your Next Pompey Read:Portsmouth cut their losses with Luke Le Roux - yet the key problems he highlighted still remain at Fratton Park