Wallace Wants Pompey Stay

17 July 2013 19:13
Pompey's key player may not leave so soon after all.

Jed Wallace has given Pompey fans some very positive news after telling the local media that he wants to stay at Portsmouth.

In an interview with The News the 19-year-old tells how he is looking to find a permanent place to live in Portsmouth with fellow young player Dan Butler. He also says he isn't interested in a move to a club in a higher division for a better wage just so he can sit in the reserves.

Whilst cynics may write this off as a footballer doing what most footballers do in declaring false loyalty only to move later in the same transfer window, previous interviews with Wallace on the likes of Sky Sports and his comments in general make me believe that he is being genuine.

Of course, this may be a ploy for Pompey's best young player to sign a long-term contract so a bigger club will have to pay a bigger fee to sign him in January. That's what happened in 2009 when Glen Johnson "pledged his loyalty" to Pompey by signing a long deal only to be sold to Liverpool for a whopping £18 million in the summer.

However, it seems like Jed is one of those rarities in football in that he's a young player who has his head screwed on and doesn't believe in his own hype.

Playing regularly in League Two will only improve his ability and attract more clubs to him to increase his options. Leaving now may see him do a "John Bostock" - a Crystal Palace player who believed he was a superstar at 16 when he signed for Spurs back in 2008. He has now signed for Royal Antwerp.

Whatever happens in Jed's future, a player of his youth and talent will leave the club eventually but there now seems to be a good chance of him staying put for this season at least, which can only be good news for Guy Whittingham who was openly expecting to lose him.

Wallace's presence in the Pompey team this season may well be the difference between promotion and staying in League Two to fester for another year and so hopefully the energetic box-to-box goalscoring midfielder can be tied down to a longer contract.

If so, those aspirations of an automatic return to League One will get a whole lot more realistic.

Source: Fratton Faithful

Source: FOOTYMAD