And Blues boss John Mousinho has underlined a conviction there’s the structure in place at Fratton Park to give a pathway to players of promise.
Mousinho acknowledged the difficulties faced by Category Three academies like Pompey’s in bringing through players to compete at first-team level.
And that is especially the case with the level being raised, with those stepping up now challenged to impact the side at Championship level.
Pompey made the call to let all of their 10 second-year scholars depart this summer, along with third year Destiny Ojo, with the view none of the group could progress to senior level at Fratton Park.
Mousinho insists that call does not mean the academy are failing, however, and used the example of Scarlett to prove his point.
The Spurs striker spent the 2022-23 season on loan at Fratton Park and arrived with a reputation as one of the hottest, young properties in English football.
At the age of 18, however, the England age-group international struggled to reach the heights hoped for in his campaign at PO4.
Mousinho said: ‘When we don’t take any academy players on like last year, it’s not a failure of the academy at all. I haven’t got an issue with it.
‘I’ve also spoken about how difficult that is now for a Cat Three academy. It’s a really difficult thing to do, especially with the pace the first team has moved at.
‘I always use Dane (Scarlett) as an example. Dane was a top prospect in the country and is still a fantastic young footballer who’s made first team appearances at Spurs this year and playing for the England under-20s.
‘Dane came and in my time at the club very rarely started and struggled to get a place in the side.
‘That’s how competitive it is in league football – and he was by far the brightest under-18 in the country at the time. That’s a really good example of the level.
‘Any player we think that can affect the first team at Portsmouth at the level we expect them to play at, we will take on and find a pathway.
‘That’s especially with the fact we have Zesh (Rehman) here as an individual development coach and he spends a lot of time with the younger players.
‘It’s younger players and older players, but particularly the younger players who can improve. We have someone in the building that can do that.
‘So that is the perfect platform, albeit without the games platform of the 21s for a player to do that. We could find game time elsewhere, that would never be an issue.’
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