QPR and West Brom beaten to £50k-a-week Premier League signing by Portsmouth

QPR and West Brom are set to be beaten to the signing of Newcastle United midfielder Isaac Hayden by Championship rivals Portsmouth as the south coast club prepare for a relegation dogfight.

Pompey sit 21st in the table after 24 matches this season level on points with Hull City and Cardiff City, who are in the drop zone. The arrival of the experienced Hayden should add mettle to the midfield, just as the former Arsenal youngster did at Loftus Road last season.

The News reports that Portsmouth are 'set' to announce Hayden's arrival imminently and that the outfit has fought off competition from Championship rivals to secure the move. In November, the Northern Echo had named QPR and West Brom as suitors for Hayden, who is a fringe figure at St James' Park under Eddie Howe.

John Mousinho hints at Portsmouth transfer

The player, who was on loan at QPR for the back end of last season, had hinted at a desire to return to west London ahead of the summer window. He said: "Things move quickly in football and you move on. But it's a situation where myself and the club will have to sit down in the summer and discuss what they want to do.

"I had to take a pay cut to go to QPR, which I was happy to do for the last few months of the season, to get games. But it’ll be back to square one in the summer but hopefully I can help keep QPR up and would love to stay here if possible."

The News reports that Hayden is earning a lofty £50,000 a week at St James' Park on a deal that runs until 2026, despite not having played for the Magpies since December 2021. Mousinho had recently teased at a potential midfield acquisition ahead of snapping up Hayden.

Portsmouth have been relying on former QPR man Andre Dozzell and loanee Freddie Potts since moving Marlon Pack to defence. Mousinho said: "The two players, Doz and Pottsy, have done really well playing in there together. Those two have played pretty much every game since we had the turnaround. I’d mark the Hull game as the start of the turnaround for the season, we’d only won one game previously.

"When we’ve played poorly the two have of them have probably gone with the team, but they’ve also had some outstanding performances as well and been the heartbeat of the team. Look at the Swansea game, in particular, I thought the two of them were outstanding. So there’s some positive things coming from them in the middle of the park.

"We’ve got a fairly good balance in the middle of the park. We’ve got Marlon (Pack) in there with a lot of Championship games, though he’s playing centre-half now. ‘Freddie is relatively inexperienced at Championship level, but has played a lot of league games. ‘Doz has played a huge amount of this level and Mox (Moxon) not so much, but has come in and done well when called upon. At the minute the balance is fine, but if the right player crops up and we think it’s the right thing to do then we’re going to look at doing it."

Isaac Hayden urged to make January transfer by ex QPR boss

QPR had been heavily linked with a summer move for Hayden but instead boosted their midfield options with the arrivals of Jonathan Varane and Nicolas Madsen.

In that November report, the Northern Echo believed that no linked Championship side could afford Hayden's Premier League wages. However, Newcastle United would be ‘willing’ to enter into discussions that would allow them to get the player off their wage bill in a way that would work financially for a second tier outfit.

The outlet claimed that Hayden is 'hoping to engineer a financial solution that will enable him to leave Newcastle United' as he trains with the under-21 squad.

The midfielder has been urged to seek more playing time but Steve McClaren, who is in charge of the Jamaica national team. The former QPR boss said: “[Isaac] realises that he’s in the reserves at Newcastle. He needs a club in January. This is as much about the March [international] window, the summer window, and the next World Cup window as it is this window.

“Every player needs a cause. Every player needs motivation, and his motivation is to get back playing at the level he was three or four years ago. To be able to commit to Jamaica and, hopefully, to another club in January will only make him better.”