Gillingham manager Neil Harris has signed a centre-half on deadline day.

Harris made it a priority of his to bring in an additional central defender before the 11pm transfer deadline today (Thursday) and he’s gone for Portsmouth youngster Haji Mnoga, beating off lower-league teams to win his signature.

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The Gills boss was at Crawley on Tuesday night to watch Mnoga feature for League 1 Pompey in the Football League Trophy, making his third appearance of the season in the 2-2 draw.

Mnoga, an international player for Tanzania, has not played for Portsmouth in the league this season, the 20-year-old limited to cup opportunities only. He played for Pompey in their League Cup games against Cardiff City and Newport County.

Last season was spent on loan in the National League, an unhappy spell at Bromley followed by a more productive stint with relegated Weymouth, making a total of 28 appearances during the 2021/22 campaign.

He did make five appearances for Portsmouth in League 1 during the 2020/21 season, including a start against the Gills when the teams met at Fratton Park.

Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley told The News recently that “If we really want to invest in our young players, then we have to try to make long-term decisions for them and for Haji, this year the focus was on trying to get him to play 35 senior games-plus.

“It makes sense to try to find him that loan move that will allow us to keep accelerating his development.”

It’s been reported that the Gills were among a host of clubs hoping to land Mnoga on loan, with non-league Chesterfield and Oldham among them.

Gillingham have left it late to make an extra addition in defence and had previously been linked with several players during the window, including experienced former Shrewsbury centre-back Aaron Pierre. The free agent joined fellow League 2 side Sutton United earlier this week.

The deadline for signing contracted players closes at 11pm. Harris was hoping to also add strength to his attacking options but that was dependant on players leaving and the Gills boss said on Wednesday night that nobody was likely to depart.

Gillingham were understood to have shown interest in taking Millwall youngster Isaac Olaofe on loan during the summer transfer window but Mnoga’s arrival means they now have five loanees on the books and that’s the maximum allowed in a matchday squad. Glenn Morris, Elkan Baggott, Ryan Law and Hakeeb Adelakun have all joined this summer on a temporary basis.

Harris could look to the free agent market once the window closes tonight, should he have a budget for any more additions, before the market for contracted players reopens again in January.

The Gills boss has, however, said: “When we get back on the training pitch at 10am on Friday, then that will be my group going into January.”