Matt Ritchie’s second spell with Portsmouth appears to be over after the Championship club stripped him of his squad number.The Scotland international donned Pompey’s No. 30 shirt last season, however, that number has now been handed to goalkeeper Ben Killip ahead of the 2025/26 season.Matt Ritchie looks to be on his way out of Portsmouth this summer after being stripped of his squad numberPortsmouth boss John Mousinho previously revealed the club would not stand in the way of the player leaving the club.It comes after the pair held amicable discussions at the end of last season despite his contract still having another 12 months to run.“We had a conversation with Matt at the back end of the season about expectations around playing time,” Mousinho told Radio Solent.“It was a really grown-up chat about where he is at with his career and what I was willing or able to promise him this coming season.“We shook hands and said that if he could find somewhere else that was going to guarantee him that [more game time] then that would be fine.”The 35-year-old played a pivotal role in Pompey’s Championship survival campaign as they claimed 16th position in the table in their first season back in the second tier.Ritchie, who began his career at Fratton Park before moving to Swindon in 2011, stayed in England instead of travelling with the squad on the club’s pre-season trip to Slovakia.“Matt was a massive part of us staying in the Championship last year and I really enjoyed working with him,” Mousinho said.“We have given him the opportunity now to sound out anything he needs to at home and then we can part ways amicably and as best we can.“There was no falling-out at all, we wanted to be adults about it and just have the conversation – it was very amicable and harmonious and we wanted to find the right solution for us both.”Richie spent three years at Bournemouth before moving to NewcastleRitchie, who has clocked up 16 caps for his country, scored five times in 41 appearances last season.Regardless of his next step, Ritchie admits he had lived out a dream in returning to boyhood club Portsmouth before the end of his career after making his debut with the south-coast club in 2010.“The emotion of playing at Fratton Park was something I never really conquered, because I played with so much fear when I was there (first spell),” he told The Guardian in May.“I remember the moment like yesterday. I cut inside, right foot, and I should’ve taken another touch and I would’ve been inside the 18-yard box,” he recalled of the League Cup defeat at home to Leicester.“But I shot from about 22 yards … I thought: ‘What am I doing?’ If that was in a youth-team game or on loan at Dagenham, you would’ve driven at the defender, got in the box.’ But I tensed up.”He recently admitted that his career is entering its twilight phase and is in the process of considering his next venture.Ritchie admits he is now looking beyond his football career as he plots his next move“My dream now is coming to an end,” he says. “You have to reinvent yourself. I’m starting to take the blinkers off, opening my eyes. What can I learn?,” he said.Ritchie’s career took off after his first spell with Portsmouth when Swindon made a loan move permanent in 2011.He made 129 appearances for The Robins, scoring 28 times which earned him a move to Bournemouth in a £400,000 deal.Ritchie, who had performed admirably for Swindon, admitted his surprise at being sold to which boss Paolo di Canio later revealed the club had sold Ricthie behind his back.The Scotsman shone for Bournemouth and helped them clinch promotion to the Championship and in 2015 played a key role in the Cherries claiming Premier League status.He dropped back into the Championship a year later with Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle albeit for one season as the Magpies bounced back to the top flight as the first time of asking.Ritchie’s time at Newcastle was a successful one despite a high-profile bust up with Steve Bruce in 2021Getty - PoolHe went on to spend eight years on Tyneside making 215 appearances and registering 25 goals in the black and white shirt.A largely successful spell at the club was famously overshadowed by a bust-up with former Magpies boss Steve Bruce in 2021.Ritchie was infuriated by post-match comments from Bruce following a 1-1 draw against Wolves, resulting in an angry exchange and Richie referring to him as a coward.Reports later suggested that things got heated between the pair on the training pitch with Bruce ‘shoulder barging’ the player.The matter was discussed by talkSPORT’s Simon Jordan at the time who accused Ritchie and his Newcastle teammates of leaking the information to the press as part of an agenda against Bruce.Richie left Newcastle at the end of the 2023/24 season before making an emotional return to Portsmouth last summer.