Nadir Belhadj: Sign Him Up!

When Portsmouth FC announced that they had signed a little-known left back named Nadir Belhadj on a season-long loan from French side RC Lens, I wasn't expecting much.

We had seen these "deadline day deals" backfire on us plenty of times, with players either not living up to their potential, or never being given the chance. Players like Rudolph Duala, Valery Mezague, and the now-infamous Collins Mbesuma come to mind.

Harry Redknapp had always had a knack for getting the best out of players, but he was also known for picking up quite a few flops in his time (although Mbesuma was certainly the fault of former manager Alain Perrin).

I didn't expect much from Belhadj.

When he came off the bench in our comeback win against Middlesbrough, I was shocked to be seeing him feature so early. When he featured in our win against Guimaraes, I was even more surprised. But what surprised me the most was the quality of the performance.

The lad was good. He was looking very, very good.

And the strong performances just continued. With Niko Kranjcar injured for the time being, fellow loanee Armand Traore moved up to the left wing as Belhadj solidified a starting berth.

Last season's stalwart left-back Hermann Hreidarsson has been pushed to the back of most supporters minds as Belhadj and right-back Glen Johnson have been in stunning form.

As Belhadj earned his first goal for the club with a belter against Sunderland, his game only improved leading to his immense performance against AC Milan, and a repeat performance this weekend at Blackburn.

It now needs to be a priority that the club sign the Algerian as soon as possible.

Both Harry Redknapp, and later Tony Adams, have already spoken of their desire to make Belhadj's move permanent. But with the performances he has been putting in, he is only going to continue driving his market value up.

Hopefully, the club had foreseen the quality Belhadj would bring to our side prior to his signing, and agreed a future fee for the player if he impressed.

Needless to say, it is signing players like Belhadj permanently that will signal Pompey's intent to the rest of the league, and let the players currently in the squad know that there has been no change in ambition.

Portsmouth will continue their drive to push up the table and improve on each past season. And it is that attitude, as well as the great support that Portsmouth fans have been showing Belhadj since his first dedicated performance for the side, that will convince him to stay permanently.

Portsmouth board—Sign him up!