Portsmouth have completed the transfer of Jason Pearce from AFC Bournemouth on a three-year-deal for a reported fee of £300,000.
The 23-year-old centre back never played for Pompey during his first stint at the club before being given to the Cherries for nothing in 2007, although a 50% sell-on clause has seen Pompey pick him up for half of what Bournemouth chairman Eddie Mitchell was demanding for him.
Cherries fans say that Pearce has come a long way since his loan spells at Bognor Regis Town and Woking and is a bargain should the reported fee be accurate.
Steve Cotterill says that he is delighted to get a left-sided defender who can pass it out of defence and he also possesses a goal threat too, scoring 7 goals during his time at Dean Court.
I'm delighted that we've got a young player at the club who wants to play for Portsmouth. At 23, he's only going to get better and seems to have plenty of ability. I'm confident that he should be able to form a solid partnership with Ricardo Rocha in the centre of defence and he'll hopefully serve the club for much longer than some of our other more recent signings in the past.
I'm also encouraged by the fact that Pompey have actually paid a transfer fee for a player! The last time the club shelled out for someone was back in August, 2009 - almost two years ago now, even if it feels much longer.
The only bad news to come from this signing is that Pearce is banned for the first two games of the season after being shown a red card in Bournemouth's second leg of their play-off semi-final at Huddersfield.
You also have to wonder if the arrival of a new centre back means that we won't be seeing Greg Halford back at Fratton Park. That would be a shame after the performances we saw from him last season.
Pearce's arrival means a whopping two signings have been made now, bringing the total (eligible) player count to ten. We still need another ten players to have a remotely competitive squad but I'm happy that the two that have arrived seem very promising.