Bristol City in competition with Celtic and Stoke City for Guimaraes midfielder

Vitoria Guimaraes and Guinea-Bissau international midfielder Alfa Semedo has emerged as a potential transfer target for Bristol City.

Semedo is the second player in as many days to be linked with a move to Ashton Gate after a bid for AFC Wimbledon midfielder Jack Rudoni was touted by the national press.

It is the second time that talk of a fee for one of their targets has been spoken about, despite all three of City’s summer signings being free transfers, though a compensation package will be agreed with Forest Green Rovers for Kane Wilson.

The 24-year-old has just come off a season in the Portuguese top flight and central midfield is the next position that City are looking to strengthen in, given their links in recent weeks.

Football Insider reports that the Robins are one of three clubs interested in signing the player, though one club has already stolen a march for the player.

Available for a fee of £1.3m, City as well as their Championship rivals Stoke City have registered their interest in the midfielder.

Scottish Premiership champions Celtic though are in pole position to snap him up however with reports in Scotland claiming a move is close.

An initial loan move to Parkhead has been agreed to speed up the negotiation process but there would be  a mandatory buy clause inserted in it to secure his long-term future.

Semedo already has experience of the English game, especially at City’s level having had loan moves at both Nottingham Forest and Reading.

For the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons, he racked up 62 appearances for both Forest and the Royals, scoring four goals and earning three assists.

Semedo stands at six foot two and is a commanding midfielder, however last season in the 26 games that he played, he was red carded on three occasions with two of those being straight dismissals.

A defensive midfielder may be what is required as one of the final bits of the jigsaw for Nigel Pearson’s side after the Robins got a chunk of their transfer business done early.

Andy King is expected to pen a deal as a player-coach which would add another body into the centre of the park but it was an area that saw much chopping and changing last season.

Joe Williams struggled with a raft of hamstring injuries that affected him from putting together a consistent run of games. Matty James meanwhile started off the season well and was a consistent performer but injuries also affected him from being a regular feature in the side.

It meant that often on occasion, the youthful duo of Alex Scott and Han-Noah Massengo would be tasked with commanding the midfield with both players not your traditional enforcers. Scott is more of a playmaker whilst Massengo is still finding his feet in the English game.

Given the speculation over Massengo potentially departing Ashton Gate, as well as a long-term injury to Ayman Benarous, news of a potential enforcer joining the club comes as no surprise.

City have also been linked with a move for Reading midfielder Andy Rinomhota over the past few months but a move may be less likely now. The 25-year-old is out of contract and has not yet signed a new deal but after the Royals lost Josh Laurent to their league rivals Stoke City, they may be more inclined to sign him to a new contract and meet his demands to avoid wholesale changes in their midfield