Liam Manning reveals Bristol City striker hunt latest and makes Manchester City star Erling Haaland hint

Liam Manning says he wants to add a ‘powerful and explosive’ striker to his Bristol City side this summer.

The Robins boss has made no secret about wanting to bring in a central attacker this season, after the club’s failed attempt in January.

Currently, Tommy Conway and Nahki Wells are the sole options Manning has in terms of out-and-out strikers.

“We’re looking at profiles now, we’re doing work on that side of it and there are more meetings that need to happen to see what we can do,” Manning said in his pre-Blackburn Rovers press conference.

Conway and Wells have notched 14 goals in 75 matches between them in all competitions this campaign.

Manning often opts to play one lone striker, which doesn’t necessarily suit Conway’s or Wells’ natural game, and the manager hinted at the type of forward he wants to add.

“In a perfect world, I'll take Haaland,” he joked.

“I think what you want in the squad is a blend of profiles, someone that’s powerful and has that element of explosiveness.

“Tommy and Nahki are excellent in terms of their profiles, movement and taking up positions, linking play, but having that option where if you need to bypass a press or need physicality is important.”

The manager has spoken in the past about the lack of strikers in England and hinted that City may look abroad to strengthen the frontline.

“It costs right, that’s the challenge,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a huge number of profiles (in England), being able to go abroad becomes interesting purely because of a cost perspective, so we’ll do our work and see what we can find.”

The manager insisted that his involvement in the process never stops, and it’s set to ramp up as the Robins prepare for their final five matches of the campaign.

“My level of involvement increases the closer we get to a window. When the January window shut, all attention turned to the team and as we got closer to the end of the season.

“We’ve had numerous meetings with the recruitment lads, we’ve had good discussions, they’re good at getting messages across to us. It’s about the video analysis, doing additional checks and having meetings to see what our options look like.”