Bristol City boss Liam Manning makes clear loan decision on £2.5m ace after Portsmouth agreement


Bristol City boss Liam Manning has confirmed that he does not intend to send Fally Mayulu out on loan this summer despite his lack of first team action.
Mayulu arrived in the summer transfer window from Rapid Vienna in a £2.5m deal and was tipped to have a big future at Ashton Gate after scoring eight goals in 28 appearances in the Austrian Bundesliga last term.
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Hide AdThe French forward kicked off his time with the Robins in dream fashion with goals from the bench against Hull City and Millwall, sparking hope that he would challenge for a place in the starting line-up in the months to come.
However, the 22-year-old has failed to build on his promising early form and has only managed to start three games since his move to the West Country in the summer. The Robins made the decision to send out-of-favour defender Robert Atkinson out on loan to Portsmouth at the start of the winter window and several news outlets had speculated that Mayulu would follow in his footsteps by gaining regular first team action elsewhere.
What Manning has said on Mayulu
However, Manning is adamant that Mayulu is getting much closer to the required levels and insists the forward is here to stay. He compared the pair's situation in an interview with Bristol Live, he said: "I think it's for different reasons. Rob's more for confidence in his body, the fact that he's not played games for long and being able to play Saturday, Tuesday and Saturday.
“We can play him in under-21s games, but the physical demands and the volume of games are completely different. The big part for Rob in terms of confidence wise was to go and get minutes and do that. Fally's slightly different. Fally's progressing all the time. In terms of when I look at it, naturally, he wants to do well. I've never met a player who steps on the pitch and doesn't. They're all desperate to do well and help the team and Fally's no different to that.”
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Hide AdHe went on to praise the Frenchman’s form in training and added: "I get the added advantage that I see the progress he's making in training and the areas that we've been working on he is improving at, hence when he plays a game or plays minutes, I know what I'm looking for in terms of progress.
“He's getting better, he's one that when you bring someone in you want them to hit the ground running, but we're quite clear we don't sign the finished article so there shouldn't be any expectation or demand that he does it straight away.”
Bristol City play host to Premier League strugglers Wolves in the third round of the FA Cup and Mayulu if he plays will be one of the names looking to make an impression. Meanwhile, at the other side of the city, Bristol Rovers also face Premier League opposition in the third round as they travel to fellow top-flight strugglers Ipswich Town.
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