Portsmouth have joined the race to sign free agent defender Paul Downing.
The 27-year-old is a man in-demand in League One after his release by Championship side Blackburn Rovers, as per a report by the Doncaster Free Press.
Downing spent the latter half of last season on loan at Doncaster Rovers and played 22 times for the Yorkshire side. He helped them get into the third tier Play-Offs.
Grant McCann’s side are hoping to sign him this summer on a permanent deal but will face strong competitions to land him.
Downing joined Blackburn in 2017 initially on loan from MK Dons but the deal was made permanent in January 2018. He helped Tony Mowbray’s side gain promotion from League One in his first season at the club but fell out-of-favour in the Championship in the last campaign, hence why he left on loan in January.
The Somerset-born defender started his career at West Brom and rose up through the youth ranks at the Hawthorns. He never made a senior appearance for the Baggies but did enjoy loan spells at Hereford United, Shrewsbury Town, Rotherham United and Barnet as a youngster.
Downing left West Brom in 2012 to join Walsall, where he went onto play 183 games and score six goals in four seasons.
He seemed to enjoy his time at Doncaster in the last campaign but will weigh up his next move as he has numerous options. Portsmouth have promotion aspirations for next term and see Downing as an ideal signing to boost their defensive options.
