John Mousinho has not closed the door on Sammy Silvera’s permanent relocation.

The Australian winger is unlikely to stay at Pompey past the following season, the Blues manager said.

Mousinho has disclosed how his squad’s attempt to sign Silvera last year ended in failure against the Championship team.

With a surprising deal opportunity, the head coach is now thrilled to be able to bring in the 23-year-old on a season-long loan.

Mousinho said that he was surprised by the opportunity to sign Silvera, given that his debut season saw him score six goals from 16 starts and 26 substitute appearances.

Even though he still has two years left on his parent club contract, he is eager to take advantage of the Socceroos’ skills in the upcoming season.

Many Pompey supporters have inquired about the terms of the loan and whether a lengthier stay may be possible; Mousinho has now stated his stance on these matters.

“I think Middlesbrough are really keen to have him back,” Mousinho stated.

“You never know what will happen after that, but Middlesbrough saw this as a really good step for Sam to go out and play as many games as he can in the Championship,” which is why the move was made on a loan rather than a permanent basis.

We see that as a huge plus because we believe he will be able to do that with us.

If you had asked me six weeks ago, I probably wouldn’t have said that we thought it would be feasible.

We were a little taken aback by it, but I’m confident Middlesbrough has a strong group to challenge Sam.

It’s just one where, if possible, we would like to take good guys. We knew we wanted to take Sam as soon as he was on the table.

Last summer, Mousinho made it clear that Pompey had Silveri in his sights. However, Boro beat him to the signing as Silveri was leaving Central Coast Mariners.

The data room work completed at that time enabled the Blues to act swiftly when a trade possibility presented itself this time.

Mousinho went on: “It helped because we worked a lot on him last season, and Middlesbrough coming in and doing the business was the only thing that kept us from signing him.”

At that moment, we were fully certain that Sam was making the proper decision by going to the Championship to further his career. Thankfully, after a year, everything worked out for us.

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