Ricky Holmes has signed for Northampton Town permanently on a free transfer, but has Andy Awford made a mistake in letting him go?
The 27-year-old was Pompey's player-of-the-season last year and rightfully so as he was a useful creative outlet on the wing and chipped in with a couple of goals and some assists too.
This season he hasn't performed anywhere near as well as he did last campaign and on that form alone, Awford is probably right to let him go. However, he is still capable of producing excellent performances as Northampton fans will testify and to let a player of his quality leave for nothing and strengthen a team in the same division is a baffling decision.
The only way this decision makes sense is if Awford has a replacement lined up with just days of the transfer window remaining as his squad currently only contains two wingers. Either that, or the wage bill needs slashing now since the arrival of Matt Tubbs and there is no money to bring in anyone else?
The only transfer rumour doing the rounds at the moment is Exeter's Liam Sercombe to join Pompey. He is a creative midfielder so would fit the bill but given that the Grecians have just sold Matt Grimes to Swansea for £1.75 million, they would be under no pressure to sell one of their best players, so it's unlikely he'll be arriving at Fratton Park any time soon.
In other news, Dagenham's draw at Cambridge yesterday means that Pompey are now only two points clear of the bottom two. And with Awford letting one of Pompey's best attacking players go, perhaps they will be even closer to the drop in the near future.