Portsmouth's transfer plan for Sammy Silvera after 'surprise' Middlesbrough loan deal

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho admitted he was 'surprised' to learn that Sammy Silvera was available for loan this summer, and jumped at the opportunity to do a deal with Middlesbrough.

One year after being pipped by Boro to sign the Australian forward, Mousinho and Pompey moved quickly to secure the season-long loan deal as they looked to bolster their attacking options ahead of their return to the Championship. Boro will monitor Silvera's progress closely and hope he can play regularly and grow into a solid Championship player during his 12 months on the south coast.

As a result, the deal to sign the 24-year-old on loan did not include a purchase option due option for Portsmouth. Boro's desire is to assess Silvera's development over the next 12 months and see where things stand then, but the Portsmouth boss would not completely rule out being able to make the move a permanent one next summer.

READ MORE: Sammy Silvera sets his goals as he completes his loan move from Middlesbrough to Portsmouth

Silvera will be entering the final year of his Boro contract when his loan at Fratton Park does come to an end, while Boro have ambitions to win promotion to the Premier League in the upcoming campaign, which would almost certainly leave Silvera with a lot to do to break back in at Boro after a mixed first year at the Riverside. Nevertheless, the immediate plan for Mousinho is just to appreciate Silvera's talent while theirs.

He told Portsmouth News: "I think Middlesbrough are really keen on having him back. 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. We probably didn’t see it as something that would be viable, if you’d asked me six weeks ago. It came as a slight surprise to us, but I’m sure Middlesbrough have plenty to come in behind Sam in their squad.

"It's 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."

Silvera joined Boro from Central Coast Mariners last summer having helped them to A-League Championship glory. Always described as a low-risk gamble, he struggled for regular game time or consistency in his first season in England, but still managed to contribute six goals and three assists.