Bristol City ‘submit bid’ for Luton Town attacker but Swansea make transfer approach

Bristol City have reportedly made their first step into trying to sign Luton Town attacker Harry Cornick - but face competition from Swansea City for his transfer.

The Robins are in the process of selling Antoine Semenyo, who is closing in on a £10.5m move to AFC Bournemouth, after agreeing a deal until the summer of 2027. City are on the search for a replacement who can fill in Semenyo's role, which is both as a winger and as an attacker.

City already had a transfer shortlist in anticipation of Semenyo leaving, and Cornick was initially thought to be a summer target, but with money now available they have seemingly decided to speed up the process. Cornick is out-of-contract at the end of the season, and he could be available for a cut-price if he does not entertain the idea of staying at Kenilworth Road.

Reports from Football Insider now say that Bristol City have submitted a bid to Luton for Cornick, but so have their Championship rivals Swansea City. Swansea are also on the hunt for an attacking player with Michael Obafemi set to join Burnley, who were once admirers of Semenyo.

Luton are reluctant to lose Cornick, who has featured in 19 of their league matches this season, though he has only scored once and has provided three assists. His career best season came last season when he scored 12 goals in 40 matches, as well as supplying his teammates five times.

Cornick, a right-winger or a centre-forward has been at Luton since the summer of August 2017 and has helped them go from League Two to the Championship play-offs, finishing as runner-up in the fourth-tier but winning the third-tier title year later in back-to-back promotions.

A direct replacement for Semenyo will be hard to find given his ability to win games on his own at times, with his fearless runs at the defenders. Manager Nigel Pearson admitted that it wouldn’t be ‘realistic’ to find an exact replacement for Semenyo but explained what attributes and characteristics would be needed for a player to fill in his position.

"To try and replace an individual directly probably isn't a realistic thing to do,” admitted Pearson. What we have to do is try and get somebody into the squad that tries to fit the profile of the squad and that is, we try and play with a lot of high intensity.

“Anybody who comes in, in any position will be able to deal with that side of the game. It’s important that we add to the squad sensibly. We can’t afford to make too many mistakes but of course, we are still in a limited market that other people are shopping in too. We’ll see what happens.”

Cornick could be the second player from Luton to make the move to Ashton Gate after City signed Kal Naismith on a free transfer last summer. Naismith was Luton's captain, but was offered a three-year deal after a near year-long pursuit of the utility man - who has recently been moved into centre of midfield.