‘He’s doing brilliantly well’: John Mousinho on the rising star spearheading Portsmouth recruitment model.
At the age of 21, he represents Pompey’s recruitment model under Tornante. Terry Devlin is exceeding expectations, establishing himself as a popular Fratton favourite, and is now on the verge of making his 50th Blues appearance. The former Glentoran and Dungannon Swifts youth has had a rapid start to the English game since joining as a much sought-after teenager in June 2023. The dynamic midfielder fit the ‘development project’ criteria, as a young talent available at an attractive price who has the potential to grow at Fratton Park and earn a handsome return in the future.
Only 18 months later, Devlin had made 49 appearances, including nine Championship starts, scored twice, won a League One title, and trained with Northern Ireland’s senior team. Mousinho has been pleased with the Irishman’s rapid progress. He told The News: ‘The road we envisioned for Terry maybe wasn’t 12 months in the building and then being a Championship right-back. ‘If you had said, “Okay, as a Championship central midfielder,” we would have thought that could take another year for someone that young, someone coming here and experiencing full-time English football for the first time. ‘He played 79 games in Northern Ireland before coming over here, which provided him a solid foundation. Not being derogatory, but it’s very, very different to come over and play in a different country full stop.
Terry has obviously exceeded expectations. He was a fantastic player to have around last season and especially this season due to his versatility. We have him starting in a variety of roles, as well as on the bench, and he has proven to be really effective. ‘When I was trying to sign him, I never saw him live, but Rich and Phil (Boardman) did. I recall picking up the phone to Rich after he’d gone over to watch, and he said, “Terry is a yes, do you want to go over and see him?”
‘My perspective was that if he said yes, I didn’t need to! Terry had impressed me sufficiently on Wyscout that I knew he might have an impact on us. ‘This was one of those development projects with a low price, and coming from Northern Ireland, we thought it made perfect sense. ‘We certainly don’t want to lose sight of that as a football club because we need to buy and develop players like that. First and foremost for the Pompey first team, and hopefully for future value as well.
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