28 år gammel forsvarsspiller fra Championship gjør konkurransen om plassene i Pompey-forsvaret hardere.
NYHETER: Pompey har skrevet en toårskontrakt med forsvarsspilleren Joe Rafferty. 28-åringen kommer fra Championship-laget Preston, hvor han har spilt siden de kjøpte ham fra daværende League One-klubb Rochdale i januar 2019.
Nå var Raffertys kontrakt med Preston gått ut, og flere klubber var interessert i den rutinerte forsvarsspilleren. Pompeys hovedtrener Danny Cowley er svært fornøyd med å ha sikret seg den anvendelige forsvarsspilleren før 2022/23-sesongen.
Det er ventet at Kieron Freeman vil forlate Pompey nå som Pompey har signert både Joe Rafferty og Kyle Swanson. Det er dermed så stor konkurranse om plassene både på høyrebacken og i midtforsvaret at Freeman er dyttet langt bak i køen.
For Pompey ser det nå bra ut i forsvaret og på sentral midtbane. Det er først og fremst spisser som trengs før den nye sesongen, men det vil også skje noe på keeperplass og muligens kant.
SE OGSÅ: Joe Raffertys spillerprofil
Joe Raffertys kommentarer
«This is a massive club – and I always want to play for the biggest clubs possible. As soon as Pompey came in, that’s who I wanted to sign for. There were a couple of other sides interested and this came around quite quickly. It’s the right move for me. I can tell that all the staff here love their football and they want to do as well as they can. That can only help the players.
I had quite a lot of games in the Championship, although didn’t have as many as I would have liked in the last year. Now I want to get my head down, get into the team and play as many games as possible. But I also want to win and finish as high as possible.
I like to defend and win my 1v1 battles and I like to get forward and send crosses in – and hopefully chip in with a few goals. There are some brilliant teams in League One and it’s going to be really competitive and I can’t wait to get going.
I talked to Andy Cannon and he couldn’t speak highly enough about the club and the city. He loved his time here. David Nugent also sold Pompey to me really well. He’s another lad like me, who has come down from Liverpool.”
Danny Cowleys kommentarer
«Joe brings Championship experience from a successful Preston team and has also performed very well in League One He didn’t play as much as he would have liked last season and so I think he’ll come feeling energised and looking forward to the challenge that playing for Pompey brings.
Joe is a boy who really loves to win and the ambition that he has aligns with the ambition of the club. We’re a pretty youthful squad and he offers a lot of experience and, importantly, he’s also a great character.
He’ll be a role model in the way he conducts himself, so he can help in the development and support of our young players. Joe has played at Fratton Park before and knows how passionate our fans are, so he was really eager to sign.»
https://twitter.com/JoeRafferty5/status/1547139545459720193
