It’s not often you head to Fratton Park with anything other than a sense of impending doom.Particularly in the Carabao Cup – a tournament that Portsmouth have reached the third round of just once since 2009-10. A sunny, warm August evening in 2019 was different.
Not because expectations were any higher than usual, but because Pompey were taking on Birmingham and a potential teenage superstar was in line to make his debut for the visitors.
A friend of mine had a son at the Birmingham academy and had messaged me the weekend to tell me to keep an eye out for a kid that had long been identified as rare and special at St Andrew’s.
A player who had played for the club’s under-18 side at the age of just 14. A youngster who had clubs across Europe tracking his every move.
A record-breaker
