Portsmouth’s Chief executive Andy Cullen, says the club remain in contract talks with midfielder Jay Mingi and remains hopeful they can get a deal done despite his contract being set to expire at the end of the season.
The 22-year-old has been in negotiations to extend his stay at Fratton Park for four months now, however, talks have gone on after links to a host Championship clubs.
West Brom, Birmingham and Huddersfield have all been reported interested in the Pompey player, with a free move being available in the Summer if he can’t come to terms with the South Coast club.
Mingi had established himself as a key piece earlier in the season while under the management of Danny Cowley, however, has seen his time on the pitch dip after injuries and a change in manager.
With 17 league appearances this season, Mingi has been on the sidelines for over three months now, with his last start coming in a 2-0 defeat to MK Dons back on 17 December.
Despite the lack of appearances of late, missing the last 22 games, Portsmouth remains in interesting in resigning their youngest.
Pompey currently sits 9th in League One, as they eye up a return to the second tier in English football. Three points behind Peterborough in the last playoff spot, the stakes are fairly even around them with seven games remaining in the season.
Portsmouth have secured 10 points in their last four games, after a run of three wins and one draw throughout March.
Speaking to The News about Mingi’s future with the club, chief executive Cullen said: “As previously documented, we made the contract offer some time ago, before his injury. As one of our younger players, we wanted to look after him and take him onto the next level.
“He’s a player who has been extremely unfortunate with injuries, everyone can see the potential the player possesses.
“It’s just a shame that, over the last two years, Jay’s not had the opportunities or length of run of games which he and ourselves would have hoped for.
“Offers have been made to Jay and we’ll see where that takes us.”
Writer’s View
Mingi is a player who possesses a ton of potential with Portsmouth and Championship clubs interested in his services, however, he is yet to display his full talent on the pitch.
At the age of 22, he has only made 30 appearances in all competitions over the last three seasons, as injuries have held him back at times.
With availability being a player’s greatest ability, it is interesting that clubs in a higher division are paying attention to the situation. With this being said, the ball is firmly in the player’s court, so once the season comes to an end, he should get his pick of where he wants to play.
