The Black Cats loanee has returned to Wearside for treatment after a quad injury ruled him out for the remainder of the campaign
The Sunderland defender is not expected to feature again for Portsmouth during the remainder of his loan spell after suffering a serious injury setback.
Pompey boss John Mousinho has confirmed the club intend to explore the possibility of removing Aji Alese from their 23-man EFL squad list following the quad injury he sustained on his debut.
Alese has returned to parent club Sunderland for treatment after tearing his quad in the recent match at Preston. The injury is likely to sideline him for the rest of the campaign, meaning his time at Fratton Park could be over after just four minutes of first-team action. Portsmouth are therefore considering applying to deregister him, although Mousinho acknowledged there is no immediate urgency given they currently have two vacant squad spots.
Speaking to the Portsmouth News, Mousinho said: "Most likely his season is over. He's back at Sunderland and if we can get him back quicker then great, we'll see what that looks like. He's still our player, but we are preparing for it to most likely be over.
"Aji was doing pretty well. I thought he had settled in very well and he was positive when he came on against Preston. It's impossible to say how much impact he would have had based on that short spell, but we were pleased."
The injury occurred early in the game, shortly after Alese entered the action. "It happened after about five minutes. We had made five substitutions anyway, although I'm sure that wouldn't have made any difference with the injury itself," Mousinho added.
On the possibility of deregistration, he explained: "We can apply to deregister Aji. It depends on the length of the injury and that has to be verified by an independent consultant, but we are going to try. If you pick up an injury now, you need to show that it's clearly a four-month injury, so around 16 weeks before the player returns. It's slightly different in terms of what you have to demonstrate. We don't need Aji's space at the moment because we've still got two free spots. It would be useful to have, but we don't need it."
Mousinho also expressed sympathy for the defender, who has endured a difficult run with injuries. "Aji is obviously disappointed. He felt he had settled in really well. It's tough when you've had a number of injuries and been out for a long time.
The Echo has launched a new WhatsApp SAFC Channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates direct to your phone. Simply click this link to join ourSAFC WhatsApp channel.
"He had played 45 minutes for Sunderland, then 60 minutes, and built up in training with us for what we thought was a sensible period before playing. Unfortunately it doesn't always go in a straight line, but he's a really good kid and I'm sure he will come back stronger."
Mousinho pointed to a previous example to explain the process. "We deregistered Ibane last season with an injury he picked up in September 2024. That was a clear nine or ten-month injury, so it was easy to justify because he wasn't going to play before January."
Continue Reading