Portsmouth boss tells of Sammy Silvera surprise & confirms Middlesbrough winger plans

JOHN Mousinho jumped at the chance to sign Sammy Silvera from Middlesbrough on loan after missing out on the winger 12 months ago.

But the Portsmouth boss admits it's unlikely the Championship newcomers will be able to make the deal permanent come the end of the coming campaign, with Mousinho confirming that the winger remains part of Boro's long-term thinking.

Silvera completed his season-long loan switch to Pompey at the start of this week, with Boro hoping the move will provide the Australia international with the opportunity of regular football in the second tier.

READ MORE:

• Sammy Silvera's honest Middlesbrough admission & what he wants from Portsmouth loan

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Boro beat Portsmouth and several other clubs to the capture of Silvera from Central Coast Mariners 12 months ago and while the 23-year-old made 37 Championship appearances last term, only 12 were starts.

But the coaching and recruitment team at Rockliffe believe Silvera can still make an impact at the Riverside in the long-term, particularly after a year of regular action at Fratton Park.

"I think Middlesbrough are really keen on having him back," said Mousinho.

"You never know what’s going to happen off the back of that, but the reason it was a loan and not a permanent is because Middlesbrough see this as a really good step for Sam to go out and play as many games as he can in the Championship.

"From our point of view, we think that he will be able to do that with us, so we see that as a real positive."

Mousinho knows Silvera's game well, with Portsmouth having watched the winger closely in Australia ahead of making a move to sign the wideman last summer. That swoop was unsuccessful, with Silvera instead opting for Boro, and Mousinho admits he wasn't expecting the opportunity to sign the forward this summer.

"We probably didn’t see it as something that would be viable, if you’d asked me six weeks ago," he told The Portsmouth News.

"It came as a slight surprise to us, but I’m sure Middlesbrough have plenty to come in behind Sam in their squad.

"It just one where we want to take good players if we can. As soon as Sam was on the table we knew we wanted to take him.

"It helped because of the fact we done a lot of work on him last season, and the only thing which prevented us signing him was Middlesbrough coming in and doing the business.

"We completely understood at that point, it was the right choice for Sam to go and ply his trade in the Championship. Thankfully it’s worked out for us a year on."