According to various sources, including Sporting Life (tweet – below), Portsmouth winger Jamal Lowe has been withdrawn from a friendly fixture against Havant & Waterlooville sparking rumours that he could be on the way out of Fratton Park.
Leeds, Middlesbrough, Millwall, Wigan and West Brom have all been linked… ✍️
Jamal Lowe was a late exclusion from Portsmouth's pre-season friendly this afternoon 👀
More 👇
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) July 13, 2019
As Sporting Life Football point out, not only are Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion after Lowe, there is a host of other interested Sky Bet Championship clubs that have also shown an interest in Middlesbrough, Millwall and Wigan Athletic.
Lowe’s withdrawal from today’s friendly come despite being named in the Portsmouth starting XI for the game, as the tweet from Portsmouth’s official Twitter account (below) shows.
🗒️ Today's teams are in, and here's how #Pompey line up against @HWFCOfficial ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/9EVzg1DCnq
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) July 13, 2019
The interest in Lowe is not surprising bearing in mind his output last season for Pompey. The 24-year-old sparkled last season, scoring 17 goals and adding a further nine assists in a campaign that has obviously caught the eye of higher-tier suitors.
Lowe’s withdrawal from the Havant & Waterlooville game, a match that ended in a 2-1 victory for Pompey, was made all the more strange by manager Kenny Jackett insisting that the productive wideman had, in fact, been granted the weekend off.
🗣 Kenny Jackett says #Pompey looked a bit lacklustre in their 2-1 friendly win at Hawks.
He confirms that Ross McCrorie and Jamal Lowe were given the weekend off, while James Bolton will be out for around a fortnight with a groin injury. pic.twitter.com/TSl8qnlVfo
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) July 13, 2019
WHether that is the case, or whether it isn’t, that does not detract from the fact that supporters of sides linked with Jamal Lowe have begun commenting. It does seem a rather tenuous excuse does the ‘he was given a weekend off’ whe nLowewas included on the official teamsheet for today’s game.
It remains to be seen what the next step in this saga, but it would be interesting to see whether Jamal Lowe turns up at training next week.