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Exclusive:Revealed: How transfer rule change is seriously hurting Portsmouth’s summer recruitment The FA have changed rules over signing overseas players - having a ‘negative financial impact’ on Pompey and wiping out huge numbers of potential summer targets. John Mousinho revealed Pompey’s transfer plans have been ‘really hurt’ by FA rule changes regarding overseas signings. The Blues boss insisted a summer shift in position over the eligibility criteria for his side’s targets from the continent and beyond, has had a damaging effect on player recruitment. Up to 50 potential Pompey summer targets wiped out by FA rule change Pompey have utilised relaxed Home Office and FA rules introduced in 2023 effectively, which allowed them to bring in four players who wouldn’t have otherwise secured a visa. The Elite Significant Contribution (ESC) rules saw the likes of Nicolas Schmid, Gustavo Caballero and Adrian Segecic landed - as well as big summer capture Rocco Shein. Significantly, however, the FA have shifted the landscape to state players over the age of 23 are no longer eligible for an ESC. The News understands that has wiped out as many as 50 players Pompey had identified as potential targets this summer. The initial proposal from the FA in June was to drop the ESC slots from four to two, a stance which the EFL fiercely pushed back against on the grounds of the impact to its members. Mousinho explained as well as decimating their potential overseas targets, the move has driven the price ‘up and up’ for those potential ESC players under the amended criteria. That has hugely frustrated the Blues football operation and their head coach. Mousinho said: ‘The FA have changed the squad rules regarding ESC slots, which has made things a lot more difficult - and actually a lot more costly. ‘That’s really hurt Championship clubs in particular and had a negative financial impact on what we’re trying to do. ‘So it has become quite difficult competing with some of the other sides in the Championship. ‘You get four ESC slots and there was an effort from the FA to reduce that to two. ‘We’ve kept the four ESC slots, but what you now can’t do is bring in anyone over 23 unless they are full GBE. ‘So if there’s a 26-year-old ESC you can’t do it. You can probably imagine if you’re trying to bring in a player who’s a little more experienced at the age of 27 or 28 and they’re ESC they may be a bit cheaper. You now can’t do that, you just can’t bring them in. ‘There was a bit of back and forth, because the changes they were originally going to make would have really had a huge impact. ‘In fairness to the EFL they were very strong about how it would affect their clubs, so there was a compromise. ‘From what I gathered it wasn’t a decision made for the good of the EFL, so there was a very strong response. So the compromise was four ESC slots, but players can’t be over the age of 23. ‘So there’s been real pressure on fees and wages for those younger talents, they’ve just gone up and up. ‘It’s a consequence of a decision which has certainly not been made for the benefit of Championship clubs.’ Pompey are pushing on with their transfer business with their four ESC spots currently taken up by Luke Le Roux, Mark Kosznovszky, Madiodio Dia and Shein. Of the overseas summer recruits brought in so far, New Zealand prospect Luke Brook-Smith holds a British passport through his English father - so doesn’t need a work permit. Marko Milovanović and Daniel Bielica both hit the 15-point threshold for full GBE status, after playing regularly in Europe’s major leagues.