Bristol City transfer notebook: Shrewsbury Town eying further Robins talents as Aston Villa watch on

Shrewsbury Town have been scouting regularly at the Robins High Performance Centre and Ashton Gate as the League One side continue to look at Bristol City talents.

Former Robins boss Steve Cotterill was at the HPC himself recently to watch on-loan striker Saikou Janneh return to the West Country playing for the U23s but to also look at other young players.

And Shrews senior scout Graham Bird has been a regular attendee at Ashton Gate and Failand recently as well.

The League One outfit, who have preserved their third tier status after the last round of fixtures, will be looking at potential loans - with Tommy Conway, Ayman Benarous and Sam Bell sure to attract interest this summer - as well as any U23s players released in the coming months.

The relationship between Cotterill and his former side has flourished since he took over in Shropshire, with the Shrews boss in close contact with academy director Brian Tinnion.

George Nurse joined up at the New Meadow last summer and has enjoyed a very good season in League One, making 39 starts and coming off the bench four times for Salop.

But Janneh has fared less well, making just one start but appearing from the bench another 10 times.

Meanwhile, another interesting face watching on at Ashton Gate recently will be well known to City boss Nigel Pearson. Aston Villa’s head of recruitment Rob Mackenzie recently took in a Bristol City game to keep an eye on the South West side and their players, as well as the opposition, for the Midlanders.

Mackenzie worked with Pearson at Leicester City previously, and has been credited as one of the men responsible for the Foxes recruiting Riyad Mahrez, who arrived from Le Havre in 2014.

No doubt Villa are watching many clubs and players but the Premier League side may have been looking at Rob Atkinson, who has stood out in BS3 despite it being his first year at Championship level and having suffered with illness during the campaign. Villa are examining centre-back options.

Bristol City are in need of a shake-up this coming summer, according to Pearson, who is hopeful of incomings despite a difficult financial base for the club to work from.

The 58-year-old confirmed this week in his pre-Derby County press conference this week that there would be no major overhaul of the playing squad this coming summer, but that City will look to strengthen.

As BristolWorld reported recently, the club is set for a quieter summer than perhaps some fans feel is necessary - and even the manager too.

The club is prioritising centre-back, full-back and defensive midfield positions as areas to strengthen, with the Robins’ defence in need of improvement.

“Most of the squad will still be here next year and additions that we bring in will hopefully improve us in a way which will give us a better chance of being a bit more successful and a bit more consistent,” said Pearson on Thursday.

“That’s the aim but it won’t be a straightforward window again, talking to staff from many other clubs as well the challenges for everybody this summer is to see how the market actually reacts again I can’t see there being huge changes from last year.”

Bristol City were linked with Zulte Waregem winger Jean-Luc Dompe this week, but BristolWorld understands that despite the club being aware of the player he is not a primary transfer target and there are no active talks to recruit the player as things stand currently.

The club’s interest in recent U23s trialist Lucias Vine - from Aldershot Town - has ended.