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Club president confirms Portsmouth agreement in place for midfielder Jesper Ceesay Pompey’s efforts to bring in Jesper Ceesay have been confirmed by Antalyaspor president Mustafa Ergün Jesper Ceesay’s anticipated move to Pompey has taken a significant step forward. Antalyaspor president Mustafa Ergün has confirmed an agreement has been reached between the Blues and the recently-relegated Super Lig outfit for the defensive midfielder. Last weekend, reports in Turkey claimed a deal had been struck between both clubs, after previous talks had stalled. This was then followed up by information relating to details of the arrangement, with Pompey reportedly paying an initial upfront payment of €500,000, with a further €300,000 paid in installments. It was also said that Antalyaspor had negotiated a 15-percent sell-on clause in the deal that was taking Ceesay to Fratton Park. Since then Pompey fans have been watching on patiently, waiting for the Swedish-born Gambia international to arrive. On Wednesday, Blues boss John Mousinho admitted it was unlikely any new arrivals - including Abu Kamara - would be signed ahead of Pompey’s season opener at West Ham on Saturday. No doubt, that disappointed many, with the Blues having already added six new players to their first-team roster for the 2026-27 campaign. However, reassurances that a deal for Ceesay remains in place have arrived from the top level at Antalyspor. Addressing the media ahead of his side’s season opener against Keciorengucu on Saturday, Ergün confirmed Pompey’s negotiations for the player have proven fruitful. Amid a press conference that was aimed to encourage Antalyspor supporters worried by the club’s ongoing financial troubles, he said: ‘We have reached an agreement with Portsmouth regarding Jesper Ceesay’. Antalyaspor’s financial worries Antalyaspor’s willingness to part company with Cessay for the right price comes at a difficult time in the club’s history. Their relegation to the TFF 1. Lig at the end of last season was accompanied by a transfer ban imposed by FIFA because of monies owed to their players and other clubs. That included Swedish side Norrkopping, who were still owed money from their sale of Ceesay to Antalyaspor last summer. They also needed to reduce the number of foreign players on their books following their demotion from the Süper Lig. But speaking from the club’s Hasan Subaşı facility on Friday, Ergün said all disputes from last season had been taken care off. He said: ‘Tomorrow, we will play our first match. Everything is ready. ‘We had 16 files from the previous season that were not processed due to unpaid fees, so we had to go through FIFA again. ‘We had a serious loan. We paid the payments for our players first. We have a debt of around 50 million TL. We are trying to clear the transfer board. We have paid nine out of 16 banned files. ‘The system is starting to fail. We have agreed on four of the remaining seven files, and we are making arrangements. We still need 600-700 thousand euros. We are trying to find that money. This week, we will not be able to complete our transfers, but we will make it to the Mardin match.’ For your next Pompey read: Portsmouth boss’ significant transfer spending vow as he outlines picture in new era