Bristol City chief drops transfer hint as Chelsea and Man City involved

The Robins want to do business in January and shortlists have been drawn up
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Bristol City are looking at players from Chelsea and Manchester City, as part of their plans for the January transfer window. The Robins are planning to do business in a month’s time and already players are being identified over a possible move.

City are staying within the financial guidelines to avoid any punishments for Financial Fair Play, and so the club does not have much to spend when the window opens. First-team manager Nigel Pearson has admitted that should the club do any trading, players must depart Ashton Gate first.

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Holding a key role in the next players that sign for City is Brian Tinnion, who was named as technical director of the club last month. Tinnion had been recruiting players for the academy set-up and is now working to recruit players to the first-team.

Under Tinnion’s watch, there is a solid plan in place and there could be a slight change in approach. Most recently, scouts have been at Premier League clubs as well as abroad, looking for new players.

Speaking to BBC Radio Bristol, Tinnion revealed: “The scouts have been to Portugal and all abroad over the last three to four weeks, we look in the Championship, League One, we look at U21 teams - the top ones the Chelsea’s, Manchester City’s and players like that.

"You have to have a realistic look at where you can afford to get them. We know the budget, we know where we are and how much we can pay players. We know the boundaries.

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“We’d never sign a player off a laptop. You have to go and see them with your eyes.”

Currently, there are six full-time scouts and part-time scouts in England and shortlists have already been drawn, since his appointment two weeks ago. There is one eye on the January window, as well as the summer, when players are out of contract.

The decision to scout at Under-21’s clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City, could mean that there might be a change in stance on the loan market. Since Pearson took over in February 2021, the club have not signed a loan player.

Players from the academy have since been given opportunities like Tommy Conway, the club’s top scorer, as well as Ayman Benarous and Sam Bell.

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"I enjoy going out and watching players, identifying players and I think I’ve had a lot of experience with that. It’s our job to give him (Pearson) the best tools to be successful.

"We have constant conversations, we want the best players to make Bristol City successful and know what he wants as the manager.

"You have to get a list and hopefully he likes what he sees and then we can get the best one for them. Because they’re the most important. "We’ve got a lot of games covered, a lot of reports it’s then narrowed down to ones you can afford and where you are at the moment to be able to sign them but we’re very much on it and building up the possibilities for January and summer and we’ll see where we are financially to see what we can do."

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