Portsmouth Championship rivals want to re-sign defender as Leeds United 'exchange documents' for midfielder

Portsmouth are preparing to return to the Championship after 12 years outside of England’s second flight. Despite a brief dip in form last season, Pompey enjoyed a strong run to the League One title and earned automatic promotion with 97 points on the board.

John Mousinho’s side will join second-placed Derby County along with play-off winners Oxford United in the Championship for the 2024/25 season. With a busy transfer window stretch ahead of the new boys, we’ve taken a look at Portsmouth’s rivals and their potential business this summer to see what they are up against in their returning campaign.

Boro want to re-sign defender

Middlesbrough are ‘continuing to monitor’ Ryan Giles’ situation at the recently relegated Luton Town. The 24-year-old had been on a string of consecutive loan moves prior to his move to Kenilworth Road last summer, including to Boro.

Luton’s fairytale promotion to the Premier League ended in them just missing on survival, despite some big performances against top sides in the division. The futures of some of their players are now being assessed as they prepare to compete in the Championship again and adjust their squad accordingly.

According to the Northern Echo, Middlesbrough are keen on re-signing Giles from their soon-to-be second tier rivals following their relegation. However, the report says that Boro ‘are not pursuing any other left-back’ options right now and would be happy to enter the new season without a new addition to the position.

Boro are reportedly looking to strike another loan move for Giles but after his spell at Hull City last season, he has also been linked to the Tigers full-time. A permanent move is yet to be confirmed though, so his future is up in the air right now.

Leeds ‘exchange documents’ for midfielder transfer

Leeds United were unsuccessful in their attempt to return to the Premier League next season following their relegation. The Whites fell at the final hurdle as Southampton emerged triumphant in the play-off final and now they are looking to cash in on some senior members of the team.

A number of key players have been linked with summer exits and some are guaranteed to be more of a blow than others. According to Diario del Sevilla (via MOT Leeds News), Leeds are ‘exchanging the relevant documents’ with Real Betis to formalise a permanent deal for Marc Roca. The two sides have reportedly reached an agreement to make the midfielder’s move back to Spain permanent.

As Leeds failed to earn promotion, Betis had the option to extend Roca’s loan spell by an extra year but the two are now looking to finalise talks over a full-time transfer, which will reportedly cost a ‘disclosed fee of under £4.25 million’.