Brisbane Roar boss Ruben Zadkovich has confirmed the A-League side have agreed to the sale of Pompey-linked forward Thomas Waddingham.
Despite indications Down Under that Pompey had emerged as the frontrunners for the in-demand 19-year-old’s signature, the under-pressure head coach declined to clarify whether a deal had been reached with the Blues.
Waddingham, who has previously been connected with Sheffield Wednesday and QPR, was left out of the Roar’s matchday squad for Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Melbourne City.
Prior to the match at AAMI Park, the Australia under-19 international had started all 12 Brisbane games and scored four goals.
When questioned if the player’s absence was due to continuous transfer speculation regarding his future, Zadkovich responded: “Yeah, those rumors are true.”
‘As I’ve mentioned for a few weeks, there’s a lot of interest in Tommy – and rightfully so.
‘I’m not going to go into the specifics of that arrangement, but let’s just say it’s a good thing for Tommy and his career, as well as for our club financially.’
When questioned precisely whether Pompey was the club that reached an arrangement with Roar, Zadkovich declined to go further.
He stated, “Look, there have been a couple of offers to be honest, and until it is concrete, I’m not really going to comment on who that is.”
Pompey’s interest in Waddingham revealed this week, with Transfermarkt.com valuing the striker at €400,000. The teenager is regarded as one of the A-League’s most promising talents, and Spurs and Bayern Munich have expressed interest in him since his debut.
In 34 games for Brisbane since his breakout season last year, the teenager has 11 goals and two assists for the division’s bottom-placed team.
Strong Aussie contingent already in place at Fratton Park
If Fratton Park becomes his new home, the teenager will join Kusini Yengi, Jacob Farrell, and loanee Sammy Silvera as Pompey’s fourth Australian-born player.
On Friday, the Edinburgh Evening News connected the Blues to another Australian, Cammy Devlin, with our colleagues north of the border reporting Pompey had been watching the midfielder ‘for some time’.
On Thursday, the Blues sold attacker Elias Sorensen to Norwegian top-flight side Valerenga for €300,000. Meanwhile, with Yengi out until early February with a knee injury sustained on international duty, and Brighton loanee Mark O’Mahony also unavailable for selection due to a side strain, Pompey are expected to strengthen their attacking ranks during the January transfer window.
The Blues have added two players this month, with Rob Atkinson and Isaac Hayden joining on loan from Bristol City and Newcastle, respectively.
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