Portsmouth FC handed transfer warning with previous Arsenal, Spurs blunders in mind | OneFootball

FLW's resident Portsmouth fan pundit revealed his biggest concern for the remainder of this month's transfer window

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Championship strugglers Portsmouth have been offered some timely caution ahead of the remainder of the January transfer window, with concerns over the use of the top-flight loan market remaining at large from notoriously-underwhelming deals for Miguel Azeez and Dane Scarlett in years gone by.

Pompey have lost four of their last five Championship encounters and find themselves in 23rd position after the season's mid-way point, with an immediate relegation back to League One appearing increasingly likely unless John Mousinho can strike gold in this month's window.

The south coast side have already made two signings in Bristol City's Rob Atkinson and Isaac Hayden from Newcastle United, both on loan. Mousinho is a big fan of the loan market and, you would think, is likely to fill his fifth and final available loan spot before the deadline on February 3, after Sammy Silvera's agreement from Middlesbrough was terminated in order to bring Hayden to Fratton Park.

However, he will need to proceed with caution as the club have endured very mixed results with loanees, notably youngsters from the Premier League.

Portsmouth FC handed Miguel Azeez and Dane Scarlett caution following Arsenal, Spurs loan transfer blunders

FLW asked our resident Pompey fan pundit, Miltos Ioaniddis, to identify one transfer mistake his club should avoid repeating in what's left of the winter window.

Miltos namechecked the disappointing loan deals which were struck for both Miguel Azeez and Dane Scarlett, who were signed on loan in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons respectively.

Both players, who had been tipped for glittering careers in North London with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, flattered to deceive on loan in League One and are hardly remembered fondly by the Fratton Park faithful, and they will now hope Portsmouth have learned from those mistakes in regards to top-flight loan deals.

"We need to be careful about the use of the loan market," Miltos told FLW.

"I'm totally not against bringing in loan players, absolutely not, we are desperate to get better in a lot of different positions right now and if that has to happen by bringing a player to the club on loan, then so be it.

"However, we need to be careful with the way that we do that as we shouldn't deter from the fact we need players who are ready to come in and play now. A fantastic example of that is us bringing Isaac Hayden on loan from Newcastle.

"It's a fantastic loan, he hasn't played much and only made his first appearance against Blackburn but based on the experience he provides us with, we need more signings like Hayden and need to be careful with potentially getting any youngsters from Premier League clubs.

"We've had a lot of players in the past that came in with a lot of promise but never worked out for us while we were still in League One, so players like Miguel Azeez from Arsenal a few years back, Dane Scarlett from Tottenham.

"They came in with a lot of promise but never lived up to the hype and were never quite able to face the reality that youth football is completely different to men's football. So we need to be extra careful with the way we go about loans, we recently had Sammy Silvera sent back to Middlesbrough, which is something I think was best for both parties.

"But we need to be extra careful when it comes to filling up that extra spot we've got at the moment with the players that we bring in, and that would be my biggest concern at the moment.

"I mentioned some of the players we signed in the past that didn't work out for us - the difference now is we're in a higher division in a much more serious situation, so hopefully we take all the right measurements and sign the players we need to stay in the division."

Miguel Azeez and Dane Scarlett were underwhelming signings for Portsmouth FC

It's perfectly reasonable why Miltos is so cautious about his club sanctioning Premier League loan deals, as the disappointment surrounding both Azeez and Scarlett will not be forgotten.

The pair both arrived in different seasons as England youth internationals, and each with a reputation as one of the most promising young footballers in the country, but the hype which naturally surrounded those arrivals failed to materialise.

In particular, the deal for Azeez proved a monumental disappointment for all involved. Then aged just 18, Azeez joined on loan to significant expectation but saw his deal cut short in January after only making 10 appearances, with his attitude called strongly into question.

Azeez, despite his undoubted talent, struggled to adapt to the physical demands of League One football and has fallen some way short of becoming the midfield superstar he had been tipped to evolve into in his youth.

At the age of 22, the ex-Arsenal prodigy is playing for PAS Giannina in the second-tier of Greek football after disappointing loan spells with Wigan Athletic and UD Ibiza followed his miserable time at Pompey, before he spent the second-half of last season with Spanish third division side Atletico Baleares.

Scarlett was slightly more successful by making 40 appearances across all competitions.

However, the striker had joined as an extremely bright goalscoring prodigy at Tottenham, for whom he had already turned out on 10 occasions, yet he scored just four league goals and has struggled to deliver on the initial hype in subsequent moves to Ipswich Town and currently Oxford United, too.