That was the starter - now we have to wait for the main course.

And as Pompey fans devour every rumour and every utterance coming from Fratton Park, they may be a little disappointed that the summer's first transfer window has open and closed without the Blues bringing anyone in.

They are far from alone in that, with relatively few clubs making moves to finalise deals in the early summer window.

Business can be done again in a week or so, and when the window reopens it does so for the rest of the summer. But what will it bring for Pompey?

So far a new deal for third choice keeper Ben Killip is about as exciting as it's got for Pompey - which is at least a bit of business that John Mousinho will be pleased to get done.

Attention now turns to who Mousinho, Richard Hughes and Co will lure to Fratton Park this summer, with fans hoping that perhaps one or two new faces may be here by the time the players report back for duty on Monday, June 23.

A couple of ex-loanees are bound to continue to cause plenty of speculation in the meantime.

Defender Rob Atkinson is thought to be high on Pompey's wish list, with the question of whether Bristol City would be willing to sell being one that's caused plenty of debates already. If he does come back to Fratton on a permanent basis, it would surely mean an exit for either Ryley Towler or Tom McIntyre.

And there's another ex-Fratton favourite whose name has come back into the conversation in recent days - one Abu Kamara.

Is he happy at Hull? Will Hull's new boss make wholesale changes that could mean an exit? Could Pomprey afford the fee and wages necessary to bring the proven talent back to Fratton, where he is hugely admired by Mousinho and Co and of course the fans after his pivotal role in the League One title-winning season?

There may not be a hope in hell of it happening - but until his future is settled, either at Hull or elsewhere, that talk is bound to continue.

Other new loanees are expected to come in too, even if the Blues want to rely less on temporary players than they have in some recent campaigns.

Lewis Orford from West Ham has been tipped as 'the new Freddie Potts' in some quarters and could be a good fit, with Potts himself looking massively unlikely to return, but you can be sure Hughes and his scouts will have been scouring other Premier League academies for emerging talents who are ready for a season in the Championship.

And of course there could yet be one or two exits for contracted Pompey players. Christian Saydee is one whose future here has been questioned though most fans would be happy to see him in PFC's 25-26 squad. And if the club are thinking of bringing back Kamara, or going for players at that sort of financial level, then others may need to be offloaded to make deals possible and books balance.

What we don't know, of course, is whether Pompey have already got a couple of deals done - or as done as they can be outside of the main transfer window of summer.

They have been pretty good at keeping signings under wraps in the past couple of years, so it may be that the first we know about a new arrival is when the story appears on the Pompey website and app or a mysterious silhouette appears on the club's Insta or X feeds with the demand for us to return there at 7pm for some news.

Bur as the days go by, and when the next window opens, fans being fans will be increasingly clamouring for positive news. Any crumb, any morsel, will be quickly consumed.

Photo: Action Images

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