Striker Ellis Harrison’s move to Portsmouth has been confirmed with the Welshman signing a three-year deal at Fratton Park with Pompey having paid £450,000 for the Welshman.

Harrison travelled for talks and to undergo a medical yesterday with the loose ends on the deal for an officially undisclosed fee which is understood to be in the region of £450,000 tied up today.

The 25-year-old, who joined the Blues from Bristol Rovers for £750,000 last summer, was targeted by Pompey manager Kenny Jackett when he was still with the Pirates, again on loan in January and once more early in the close season.

Pompey's assistant manager Joe Gallen told their official website: “We’re really pleased to get Ellis here — he’s someone we’ve kept tabs on for around 18 months now.

“We’ve always liked him as a player. He can fit into our system as a number nine and hold the ball up, win headers and score goals.

“He also brings added mobility to that position and has the right attitude, which is really important for us and fits into our philosophy.

“Ellis has a good record in League One and all the attributes we need. We feel he has the whole package and can add to our squad.

“With the players that we’re starting to bring in, we’re confident that they can make the difference for us in getting out of this league.”

Harrison added: “Coming here is a no-brainer. I’ve got a manager who trusts me and has put his full faith in me, so I want to repay that.

“I’m very confident in my own ability and now it’s up to me to prove that on a Saturday. I don’t feel like I’ve hit my peak yet and there’s more to come.

“I didn’t really get going at Ipswich and show my full potential, but I was hindered by injury a lot of the time.

“Now I’m looking to really push on with Pompey next season and show everyone exactly what I can do.

“I remember playing at Fratton Park and it was very loud. I was trying to shout to the boys and they couldn’t hear me. Having those fans behind you — you can’t really ask for much more.

“It’s a new start for me and hopefully we can be pushing to get into the Championship, which is where the club deserves to be.”

He says he hopes he might benefit form playing alongside another ex-Blue at Pompey: “I’ve watched guys like Brett Pitman, who’s played at a high level for a number of years, and it’s something I can learn from.”

Former Welsh U21 international Harrison started last season in Paul Hurst’s XI but appeared very infrequently after Paul Lambert took charge with injuries sidelining him for spells.

Meanwhile, Blues keeper Bartosz Bialkowski's move to Millwall is not expected to be confirmed until early next week, although appears all but done.

Elsewhere, former Motherwell midfielder Alex Rodriguez Gorrin, who was linked with the Blues and Pompey earlier in the month, has joined fellow League One side Oxford United on a two-year contract.

Photo: TWTD

Dozzells_Bobblehat added 18:51 - Jun 21 robmonkey - bit unfair I think , especially as we are currently in line to get over 700k for the Clarke sale , as well as possible add ons for Mings, Moore and Webster. It does seem as though this is one area we aren't doing badly in.
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StowTractorBoy added 18:58 - Jun 21 This could be a mistake especially selling him to a promotion rival. Not happy that we have lost more money on the transaction but I guess he did not prove himself one way or another. We still need a right back so spend the money on a decent defender. Donacian looks ordinary and Accrington even moved him into midfield on occasions. I personally do not rate Emmanuel either but only my opinion and hope he can shine if given the opportunity. Hopefully Mr Lambert knows what he is doing - time will tell.

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pragmatic added 19:14 - Jun 21 Whoever moves on & who hopefully comes in. The real showing of intent will be winning games when season starts coyb
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Northstander_Blue added 19:28 - Jun 21 Bets are on for him to score against us bad move town
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runningout added 19:33 - Jun 21 every blooming club is a promotion rival. Up to us to start playing to punish teams, rather than make them look better than they really are
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TonyHumesIpswich added 19:44 - Jun 21 People keep going on about Sears or Jackson playing up front with Norwood. Just a reminder that Sears is still out for a long time. Jackson wasn't particularly proficient in League 2 so could be interesting.
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planetblue_2011 added 19:46 - Jun 21 £450k? That is 💩 lost 300k on him, thought we'd get our money back at least.
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dirtydingusmagee added 20:00 - Jun 21 good luck, bit of an unknown quantity as far as time with us is concerned.
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Karlosfandangal added 20:51 - Jun 21 Harrison not really got going for us but yes he has proved himself in league one,but I can't see him being a great Championship player bit like Moore. Harrison or Norwood I would take Norwood every time and he looks like he can make the grade in the Championship
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Bolton56 added 21:00 - Jun 21 Seems the club can't do right for doing wrong. Sell him he will come back and haunt us, keep him he's rubbish. Only time will tell but decisions have to be made and some transfers work out others don't.
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PJH added 21:01 - Jun 21 Good luck to him. I thought that taking into account the amount of time each of them spent on the pitch that he looked the best of Hurst's signings last season, not great but the best of a pretty poor bunch.
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ArnieM added 21:46 - Jun 21 Big mistake by Town I think. And why the hell sell for nearly half what we paid for him ffs!!
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istanblue added 22:05 - Jun 21 Seems strange we've decided to let him go. Can't have been one of our higher earners (having signed from a League 1 side) and we have now left ourselves with just Jackson and Norwood (both completely untested at League 1 level) as our only fit first-team strikers come the start of the season. The fact that it's to a probable promotion rival as well just makes it all the more bizarre. This seems like nothing more than a desperate cost-cutting exercise by Evans, with precisely £0 of this loss-making transfer fee being reinvested. You can guarantee that both Harrison AND Pitman WILL score against us next season - probably more than once in truth.

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itfchorry added 22:47 - Jun 21 “Never really got going at Ipswich “ Thanks for that -
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Linkboy13 added 23:57 - Jun 21 Can't understand all the fuss about Harrison leaving he's never had a good goal scoring record just because we're selling him to a rival doesn't mean he's going too be any good lm backing Lambert on this one he's seen him in training day in day out.
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TonyHumesIpswich added 00:37 - Jun 22 Biggest surprise is we are 2nd favourites to win this league. Right now, I wouldn't put us anywhere near that. Norwood and Jackson totally untested at this level and Jackson not proficient in league 2. Midfield that has problems creating anything especially after we get our usual injuries. Defence that has been as far from rock solid as it gets and defo a new goalkeeper.

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ivandeighton added 06:35 - Jun 22 Nugent is free would do well in league one
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gkroon89 added 07:15 - Jun 22 Judging by what was seen in the footage of the new keeper Holy, we could very well see fast counter attacking football from corners especially with his long throws. Jackson's pace could be vital to getting into the space behind the defence. If this is the case, then Keeping Jackson over Harrison is the correct choice.
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Saxonblue74 added 08:29 - Jun 22 We lost money on him as Hurst over rated him and paid over the odds. I really don't understand the problem with off loading him. Turn it on it's head and imagine this scenario: PL is interested in signing a striker who scored 1 goal last season, partly due to missing long spells due to injury. His previous manager didn't rate his attitude so didn't give him a regular start. I don't think that would be a popular signing at PR?! Funny how he's now going to knuckle down and show us all what a world beater he is! Good sale as far as I'm concerned, hope Jackson follows him.

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Dissboyitfc added 08:49 - Jun 22 i have always said its not about what you spend( look at Fulham, Derby etc) its about recruitment and not selling your Assets think of the team we could have had, had we not got let go/sold, the likes of Clarke Mings webster Marriot Waghorn McGoldric Pitman, etc i hope Harrison isnt one for, the one that got away list! Time will tell of course, Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but look at the defenders and the firepower above, the main reason reason we went down was conceding too many and not scoring enough! Football should still be a simple game, unfortunately it no longer is, too many moving parts now! I would like to wish Harrison well but i cant as he has gone to a rival, i wish him no harm though!

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PositivelyPortman added 11:15 - Jun 22 It makes me wonder how ME is so successful as a businessman. Clearly football club ownership isn't his forté.
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roystevensonsrocket added 12:33 - Jun 22 How much would you pay for a striker who the previous season played so few games and scored one goal . He now has a history of being injury prone. I think we did well to get 450,000 . As to the question as to whether we sold the wrong striker I have implicit faith in PL to make the right move as he sees them everyday close up . I think his conclusions are more valid than mine ! At present we have Norwood Seers Jacksonalong with Lancaster. I don't think we will be bringing keen in as we would have heard some news by now as he's free agent now

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bluesince76 added 12:34 - Jun 22 One goal in sixtheen games good decision.
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norfolkbluey added 12:55 - Jun 22 This sounds like bad business again. Cost 750 sell 450 another loss. He's still young but hey ho what do we know. He should have been given more time especially in Div 1. Still we will have to see. Good luck to him but not against us!!!
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mrmorisato added 15:51 - Jun 22 Having now read all the comments on here I can conclude that this is a poor piece of business. Evans should have seen the money Pompey have to buy players, he sold Ellis too cheaply because he still managed to get a double digit amount of goals for the Gas in League 1. However, like with the transfer policy Evans has adopted he will sell any player that is unhappy at the Club even without attempting to persuade the player to stay, this shows no ambition on the Owners part and I fear that we'll be languishing in mid table this campaign. Buying high and selling cheap will ruin any business that has to trade (current season ticket holders please take note) In my eyes I still fear that we'll be fighting in the lower half of League 1 :(

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