‘Not far off now’: Portsmouth boss John Mousinho encouraged by winger progress after Swansea struggles
‘Not far off now’: Portsmouth boss John Mousinho encouraged by winger progress after Swansea struggles.
In 2024-25, the Frenchman appeared in 38 games for Swansea and scored three goals. Florian Bianchini’s longest spell on the pitch was six and a half months at the Kassam Stadium.
It’s a significant milestone that explains John Mousinho’s satisfaction with the Frenchman’s contribution to Oxford United, despite a mixed personal record.
And, with a cameo against Reading under his belt, the Blues manager is confident the Swansea loanee is getting closer to full fitness.
Bianchini, who joined the Swans in August 2024, fell out of favour around the turn of the year, starting just one of their last 17 games as they finished 11th in the Championship.
Indeed, he appeared in one pre-season friendly before joining Pompey, playing the entire hour against Stevenage at the Pinatar Arena Football Centre in Murcia, Spain. As a result, his 67 minutes against Oxford were the longest he had played since a 5-1 defeat at Norwich on January 25.
And, with Bianchini in contention to keep his place against the Canaries at Fratton Park on Saturday, Mousinho is pleased with his ongoing development.
Portsmouth boss: He’s not far off now
He told The News: ‘It’s one of those situations where we probably didn’t expect to start Flo at Oxford, but due to Murph’s injury, he came in and did an excellent job. However, we will need to continue building it up.
His preseason has been somewhat erratic. He began with Swansea, training frequently as you would expect, and then played a match before it became clear they would loan him out – and we were interested.
‘At that point, you rarely get the minutes, and as the loan agreement and transfer progresses, by the time you get them in the building, you’ve missed 5, 6, or 7 days of training. If you’re lucky, at best.
Luke (Le Roux) and Mark (Kosznovszky) were much older, but Flo lived during that time period. As a result, he went straight into the game over the weekend. When you consider that, you can understand why I was pleased with his performance.
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‘He’s very close to full fitness now. Flo probably needs to build up another 10 minutes here and there until he reaches 90.
Bianchini made his Pompey debut against PEC Zwolle, coming on as a substitute and setting up Thomas Waddingham’s 89th-minute goal.
And, once fit, Mousinho believes the Blues have an attacking talent capable of shining in the Championship.
‘We know he’s only going to get better and better’
Pompey’s head coach added: ‘We are fortunate these days, particularly in the Championship, to have access to all of the players’ physical stats.
All clubs have access to individual data. We can click on Flo and his Swansea performances from last year to see how physically fit he was, how much he ran, and how quick he is.
It’s a very useful tool for recruitment. ‘It’s not all about that, but if you have a player with the ability and attacking flair that Flo has when he’s at his best, combined with the work ethic, we know he’ll improve.’
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