‘We’ll get him back to the player he was’: Portsmouth boss vows to reignite Florian Bianchini’s career after Swansea troubles
‘We’ll get him back to the player he was’: Portsmouth boss vows to reignite Florian Bianchini’s career after Swansea troubles.
John Mousinho has promised to give Florian Bianchini a year to rediscover the scintillating form that drew Swansea to pay £1.95 million for him last summer.
The French attacker has come to Fratton Park with a point to prove, having fallen out of favour with their Championship rivals after only one season in Wales.
The Swans signed him on a four-year contract in August 2024 after he scored five goals and provided four assists in 29 appearances for Ligue 2 side Bastia in 2023-24.
Pompey’s head coach told The News: ‘Saturday was a really good impact in terms of coming in and providing an assist for the goal and it’s really pleasing to have Flo in the building now.
‘He’s been training with Swansea, but because we’ve been looking to make the loan for a couple of weeks and it’s always bubbling away in the background, players aren’t always where they should be. However, it appears that Flo is on the right track.
‘He joined Swansea from Bastia around this time last year and was a very promising player based on his previous season.
‘At Swansea, he had a good year last year and played a lot of centre-forward, which he also did here at Fratton Park, which I don’t believe is his position. But he still played a lot of games and scored a few goals.
My overall opinion is that if we can get him back to the player Swansea signed, we will have a legitimate threat on our hands.
‘We took a close look at his work in France prior to making that move, when Swansea paid a good transfer fee for him.
I believe we can get him back where he was. We saw some good glimpses on Saturday, and if we do, I believe we have a good player.
24 appearances for Swansea as a centre-forward in 2024-25
Bianchini made 24 of his 38 appearances as a centre-forward last season, but he is expected to play on the wing at Fratton Park. Mousinho is looking for right-sided options after the departure of Paddy Lane, Harvey Blair’s ongoing injury problems, and Matt Ritchie’s lack of a future with the Blues.
Despite switching from the right after Josh Murphy was substituted, he created Waddingham’s match-winning goal from the left.
‘We’ve certainly brought him in as a winger’
Mousinho stated that Flo’s natural position is on the wing, and that he was brought in specifically for that position.
During the game against Zwolle, we used him on both flanks, and we plan to continue doing so. Looking back at his work in France, he has played off both sides, and his game is very versatile across those front three positions.
This also provides us with a great deal of flexibility in terms of what we will do.
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