Bristol City and Fulham linked with swoop for Torino centre-back

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The Robins have been linked with a move for a defender from the Italian top flight

Bristol City are reportedly in the race to sign centre-back Koffi Djidji from Serie A club Torino. The winter transfer window opens in 46 days time and a centre-back remains the priority for the Robins and Djidji would certainly fit the bill.

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The 29-year-old plays in the top flight of Italian football, and has made 13 appearances this season, scoring one goal. Djidji has missed just two league matches this term and was an unused substitute. He has been with Torino since August 2018, having initially joined on loan from Nantes.

Reports from Italy, more specifically SportMediaSet, claim that City, along with Premier League outfit Fulham and Belgian club Anderlecht are interested in the centre-back. It states that he ‘could leave’ in January. His contract is due to expire in the summer of 2023, which could make him available for a cut-price fee.

Djidji made over 100 appearances for French club Nantes, and has 95 appearances in LIgue One to his name, whilst in Serie A, he is eight games short of being a centurion. Born in France, he qualifies for the Ivory Coast national team through his Ivorian father and was called up in 2020.

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Any move would be subject to the club offsetting the costs by letting one of their players leave. City did not spend a transfer fee in the summer transfer window, with all four players joining on a free.

"Whether we’ll be able to do some trading remains to be seen but that will only happen if players leave essentially,” said Pearson last week in a response to his transfer plans.

“We’re not as a club going to change our strategy in what we’re trying to do and that is still to be competitive but reduce costs.

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"I don’t intend now to start putting demands out there and we know we’re short in some areas. What we’d like to do compared to what we can do at the moment is very different.

“I’ll just reiterate what I’ve already said and that is we would need players to leave before we can do business to bring players in. That’s it. That’s what it is.”

City have been short at the back at times this season, with Kal Naismith and Tomas Kalas absent since October. Timm Klose also recovered from an injury that kept him sidelined.

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