Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho believes there is a chance of bringing Di’Shon Bernard back to the club, but has indicated the ball is firmly in Manchester United’s court, according to The News.
It’s understood that Pompey are interested in bringing back Bernard to Fratton Park on a permanent deal, but the League One side are currently waiting to see if Manchester United decide to trigger the one-year extension in the 22-year-old’s contract at Old Trafford with his current deal at the club set to expire.
Who is Di’Shon Bernard?
Di’Shon Bernard is a young and upcoming defender that has been with Manchester United since the age of 16 after previously being amongst the youth system at Chelsea.
Making one appearance for the Old Trafford side, Bernard took a taste of senior football for the first time with a loan spell at Salford City in League Two, in which he went on to make 31 appearances for the Ammies, finding the back of the net on two occasions at the Peninsula Stadium as Salford went on to finish the season 8th in League Two.
The 22-year-old then made the step up to the Championship with Hull City on loan in the 2021/22 season to continue his development, with Bernard going on to make 28 total appearances at the MKM Stadium as the Tigers went on to finish 19th in the second division.
Bernard’s next move would see him end up at Portsmouth on loan until the end of the season after signing for the club on loan in January. During his brief stay at Fratton Park, Bernard would go on to make 10 appearances in the blue of Portsmouth as he quickly established himself as a fan favourite in the heart of the defence.
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What’s been said?
Speaking to The News about potentially retaining the services of the young defender, Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho believes he has a strong chance of bringing Bernard back to the club, but has admitted they’re now playing a waiting game to see where his future lies.
“Firstly, Manchester United have the option on him (Di’Shon Bernard), so we’ll see what they want to do and then go from there,” said Mousinho.
“My gut feeling on him is positive, but he’s a Manchester United player at the moment and, if they take his contract up, it’s a very different situation from if they don’t.
“We’ll have to have a look at that, see what they do, and get in touch with them over the next couple of weeks.”
As well as that, head coach Mousinho also believes the 22-year-old defender can be whatever he wants to be in the football world and admits Bernard has a bright future ahead of him in the game.
He added: “There’s a huge amount of improvement within him. What’s Di’Shon’s ceiling? It’s hard to tell, but he is right up there in terms of where he can go. These are very, very exciting times for him, regardless of where he is.
“His loan has been positive and, although he might not feel like that because he hasn’t played as many games as he’d like, to perform as well as he has done over the last four matches is a huge reflection on him. He has a bright future.
“I don’t know if Di’Shon wants to stay, I will speak to him this week, but I’d like to think he knows the demands we put on him and the way we want to play suits him.”
Writer’s View
It’s been clear to see that Di’Shon Bernard has impressed during his short spell at Portsmouth and with the news that the club are possibly interested in bringing him back, there is potentially some cause for encouragement amongst Pompey supporters.
From reading the details however, it could possibly be a difficult for Portsmouth to complete however. Not only are they waiting to see if Manchester United trigger the extension in Bernard’s contract at Old Trafford, but if he was to be let go, there is a good shout that there will be plenty of clubs that are higher up in the football pyramid than Portsmouth interested in enquiring his services.
If Portsm0uth were able to get the deal over the line however, it would represent a massive coup for John Mousinho’s side as he looks to shape his squad ahead of the new season in which he, along with the Portsmouth faithful, will finally look to get that promotion back up to the Championship which has eluded the club for so long.
