Whittingham has Wallace future doubts

Guy Whittingham has revealed he continues to harbour doubts Pompey will be able to keep hold of Jed Wallace.
Waving goodbye? Jed Wallace is expected to attract plenty of interest this summer  Picture: Joe PeplerWaving goodbye? Jed Wallace is expected to attract plenty of interest this summer  Picture: Joe Pepler
Waving goodbye? Jed Wallace is expected to attract plenty of interest this summer Picture: Joe Pepler

The Blues have still to receive a summer bid for the 19-year-old, who burst on to the first-team scene last season.

Nonetheless, concerns remain that the newly-capped England under-19 midfielder will be lured away.

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Having taken up an option in April, Wallace is now in the final year of his Blues deal, with talks over a fresh contract still to get under way.

Fears exist that Pompey won’t be able to resist an attractive bid.

And Whittingham admits losing Wallace is a worry which won’t go away.

The Pompey boss said: ‘I haven’t talked to Jed since just after the end of the season and nobody has been in touch with the club with offers whatsoever.

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‘So I am looking forward to seeing him on the first day of pre-season training.

‘I still have my doubts that he will be here, though.

‘Jed is an up-and-coming player who has got himself from nowhere in terms of the football world to the England under-19s in six months.

‘He’s had a fantastic rise and I think he is improving as a person and a football player.

‘He is getting the idea of what it is all about and I am really pleased. But others will have noticed that also and that is what makes me doubt if we can keep him.

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‘Let me stress, there has been nothing so far whatsoever, no bids at all.

‘We have got to tackle that if it comes to that.

‘It will be something the board would have to consider. They would obviously ask me and I would give my opinion on whatever it might be – but that is for them to decide.’

Wallace made 23 appearances and scored six goals last season for the Blues after his surprise emergence from the Academy set-up.

A goal-laden loan spell at Whitehawk also proved priceless in terms of his development, prompting an early recall by Whittingham.

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Brighton and Port Vale then both had bids for Wallace knocked back by the Blues in the January transfer window.

Despite the calm waters at present, it is inevitable there will be more interest in the prize asset this summer.

Whittingham is certainly preparing himself for it ahead of the 2013-14 campaign.

Pompey could tie down Wallace longer to the club by offering him a new deal, a possibility initially raised by the Blues back in April.

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But according to Pompey’s manager, that option has still to be explored.

Whittingham added: ‘We have thought about offering a new contract, of course, and we will probably sit down to talk to Jed and his agent about it.’

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