“We hope…” - Key Portsmouth figure discusses prospect of sealing summer transfer move for Championship player | OneFootball

Portsmouth sporting director Richard Hughes is hopeful that the club will be able to keep Matt Macey beyond his current loan spell.

The giant keeper joined Pompey on loan from Luton in January, and it’s fair to say he has made an instant impact, with the side improving since he came in, whilst he has kept six clean sheets in 12 games, meaning the south coast outfit still have an outside chance of a top six finish.

Despite his excellent form, it’s highly unlikely Macey has a future at Kenilworth Road, as they are well-stocked for goalkeeping options. Ethan Horvath is impressing as the number one, and they have James Shea, Jack Walton and Harry Isted also on the books.

Therefore, it seems inevitable that the 28-year-old will move on in the summer, and Hughes told the Portsmouth News that they will be looking to extend Macey’s stay at Fratton Park.

“Matt has been brilliant for us, and we would certainly like to hope we can keep him. Obviously there’s the factor that he’s Luton’s player, which we completely respect, and they have their own challenges at the minute in terms of competing to get into the Premier League.

“We have our views internally, we really like Matt, he’s a great addition to the group – and then Matt has to make a decision. He must decide where he wants to play his football and, moving forward, we hope it’s with us.

“Hopefully there’s a resolution to it, but we’ll have to wait until it probably reaches a natural point towards the end of the season because we are still in mid-March. Fingers crossed we’re able to find a solution that keeps Matt at this football club.”

Macey’s immediate priority will be on helping Pompey this season, with John Mousinho’s side currently seven points away from the play-off places, although they do have a game in hand on Bolton, who currently occupy that position.

The verdict

From Portsmouth’s perspective, this is a no-brainer, and the news that fans will want to hear, because Macey is an excellent keeper at League One level, as he has shown.

Clearly, he is enjoying his football at Fratton Park, but there’s every chance that there will be other interest in the keeper come the summer. So, this is one to monitor when the campaign ends, with Luton surely going to cash in.