Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley admitted he thought his club was going to miss out on signing midfielder Joe Morrell from Luton after the Blues made what he says was a “significantly better offer” to the Wales international having tabled a bigger bid to the Hatters.
Despite that the 24-year-old Ipswich-born schemer opted to join Pompey on a three-year deal late on Monday evening. It’s understood Morrell was concerned that he may be down the pecking order at Town whereas he is set to be a first-choice at Fratton Park.
"It was a roller coaster ride,” Cowley told the Portsmouth News. "I think it was after the first loop the loop when I was feeling a bit sick.
"It was on, it was off, it was on, it was off, it was on. I don’t actually know how we signed him, if I’m honest.
"I don’t know how he decided to come here because he had a significantly better offer from another club, but Joe loves football. He just felt his heart, that’s what he said.
"I have spoken to Joe probably more than anybody this summer. I think we’ve known from the day we got this job that he’d be really good for us and fits the way we want to play and our ideas.
"Financially, we didn’t think it was possible. It then became possible. We thought we’d got it done - then another club came in and just blew us away, took it away from us.
"And somehow it came back to us. We didn’t think it would — but it did. We had moved on, we didn’t anticipate that it could be done.
"However, sometimes it’s not always about money, not everybody in this world is governed by money. Some people are governed by ambition and wanting to be the best they can be.”
Meanwhile, according to BBC South reporter Andrew Moon, Cowley revealed that Portsmouth winger Michael Jacobs jokingly reintroduced himself to his Pompey team-mates when he returned to the club following the collapse of his move to the Blues.