4 wingers Portsmouth should be eyeing if Ronan Curtis rejects contract renewal offer | OneFootball

It's been another season without promotion for Portsmouth and the core of the squad that has served them so well in League One over the past half-decade is slowly starting to leave, one by one.

Pompey’s retained and released list, which was confirmed late last week, sees a core of players including Michael Jacobs, Ryan Tunnicliffe, and Kieron Freeman depart Fratton Park after at least two years of service.

Of the players that reached the play-off finals in 2019/20, only Sean Raggett, Reeco Hackett-Fairchild, Haji Mnoga, and Curtis remain, in what is an ever-changing dynamic at the South Coast club.

What started as such an impressive campaign quickly came tumbling down to earth with a run of just one league win between mid-September and mid-January, and that only came at bottom club Forest Green Rovers.

It isn’t confirmed that Curtis will stay at the club. The Blues have offered him a new deal but it remains to be seen whether he'll agree those terms.

Ronan Curtis replacements

They should start looking for replacements in case the Republic of Ireland international departs. Here, we look at four names they should be targeting if the winger seeks pastures new.

Aaron Collins

This would be quite an ambitious signing but Pompey's firepower could make a move for Collins a lot more streamlined than first thought.

The League One Player of the Season shot to prominence over the season with 16 goals and 12 assists in a side that comfortably survived in the third tier at the first time of asking but didn't look anywhere close to joining the pack of bigger clubs in the play-off hunt.

Barton has claimed that the club don't need to sell Collins unless it is for a large fee and with Pompey notorious for developing good young attacking players and selling them on to clubs in a higher division - Jamal Lowe being a prime example - perhaps they could break the bank to sign the in-demand Welshman.

Josh Ginnelly

We move north of the border now to Edinburgh, where Hearts winger Josh Ginnelly has been pulling up trees this season.

The 26-year-old has had a remarkable season for the Jambos, scoring 11 league goals in just 27 league games to mark him as the joint-sixth top scorer in the division alongside prestigious names such as Alfredo Morelos and Portuguese superstar Jota.

He is out of contract in the summer, and hailing from Coventry, could prefer a move a small bit closer to home - especially if he is given either an increased wage and a chance of being promoted to the Championship.

Carlos Mendes Gomes

Mendes Gomes burst onto the English scene at Morecambe and memorably scored the winning goal in the 2021 League Two play-off final at Wembley to send the Shrimps up to the third tierfor the first time in their history.

It's quite a remarkable story for the Senegal-born star; moving away from his family in Lanzarote to venture out into Madrid as a 15-year-old, they wound up in Manchester, where he began playing for ninth-division side West Didsbury and Chorlton before Morecambe spotted him.

Under three years later, he was scoring at Wembley to book his sides' ticket in the third tier, before Luton snapped him up for an undisclosed fee reported to be worth £500,000.

He spent this season at Fleetwood on loan, but if Luton earn promotion to the Premier League he could well move away from Kenilworth Road on a permanent deal. Perhaps something to ponder for John Mousinho.

Matty Kennedy

Back up to the Scottish Premiership again and this time, a familiar face to those at Fratton Park.

Kennedy spent the 2017-18 season on loan at Pompey, helping the Hampshire-based club settle into the third tier following promotion as champions the season before.

His energetic displays and three goals in 30 league appearances saw Pompey narrowly miss out on the play-offs; but whilst he may not have pulled up too many trees in his time on the south coast, he has continued to impress north of the border ever since.

With Aberdeen likely to qualify for the Europa League, their increased budget and subsequent recruitment could force Kennedy down the pecking order, which could open the door for Mousinho and co.