Joe Rafferty had a decision to make after leaving Preston at the end of last season.
A defender with plenty of Championship experience under his belt, there were unsurprisingly a few clubs interested in his signature.
But Pompey quickly moved to the front of the queue and the 28-year-old was delighted to agree a two-year deal.
Now, with the new campaign approaching, he is looking forward to the challenge of trying to help his new side escape League One.
Rafferty said: “This is a massive club – and I always want to play for the biggest clubs possible. As soon as Pompey came in, that’s who I wanted to sign for.
“There were a couple of other sides interested and this came around quite quickly. It’s the right move for me.
“I can tell that all the staff here love their football and they want to do as well as they can. That can only help the players.
"There were a couple of other sides interested and this came around quite quickly. It’s the right move for me."
“I had quite a lot of games in the Championship, although didn’t have as many as I would have liked in the last year.
“Now I want to get my head down, get into the team and play as many games as possible. But I also want to win and finish as high as possible.
“I like to defend and win my 1v1 battles and I like to get forward and send crosses in – and hopefully chip in with a few goals.
“There are some brilliant teams in League One and it’s going to be really competitive and I can’t wait to get going.”
A move to Fratton Park received glowing endorsement to a couple of names that will be familiar to Blues fans.
Rafferty explained: “I talked to Andy Cannon and he couldn’t speak highly enough about the club and the city. He loved his time here.
“David Nugent also sold Pompey to me really well. He’s another lad like me, who has come down from Liverpool.”