Portsmouth have produced many youngsters over the years, including Premier League players like Darren Anderton, Matt Ritchie and Asmir Begovic.
There are also current EFL stars like Conor Chaplin, Jack Whatmough and Jason Pearce. One current player on the books at the club is 20-year-old Haji Mnoga and he deserves a chance in the first-team next season.
Mnoga penned a two-year scholarship in the summer of 2018 and made his debut in a 1-0 away win against Crawley Town in the EFL Trophy at only 16 years old before linking up with Bognor-Regis Town on loan to get some experience.
During the 2019/20 campaign he only played in cup games for Pompey but did sign his first professional contract with the club.
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Mnoga’s most successful season in terms of appearances was in 2020/21 where he featured nine times in all competitions.
The pacey defender’s league debut was when he came on as a substitute in the dying embers of the game against Lincoln City which Pompey won 3-1.
His first start came at Fratton Park against Crewe Alexandra in a 4-1 home win before he scored his first goal in an Papa John’s Trophy Trophy game against Cheltenham Town.
Following Kenny Jackett’s sacking towards the end of that season, Danny Cowley was brought in and Mnoga has only featured once since – a 5-3 loss to AFC Wimbledon which was again in the cup.
Shortly after signing a new three-year deal, he joined Bromley on loan for the first-half of the last campaign. He managed seven appearances for the non-league side to boost his development.
He returned to his parent club and in January went back out on loan but this time to Weymouth, where he played 15 games.
Pompey need a new right back after Marlon Romeo’s return to Millwall and Mnoga has all the top attributes in that he has great physicality, pace to burn and is strong in the tackle. He perhaps needs to work on defensive awareness and to keep track of runners.
With Cowley unlikely to have a large amount of money this summer, he could prove to be a useful home grown option.
