The unanimous Bristol City transfer verdict on signing Fulham star

Bristol City fans are overwhelmingly in favour of bringing back Joe Bryan to the club, amid talk of a possible return this summer.

That is according to our recent fan survey which posed the question as to whether Bryan should make a return to Ashton Gate. We opened up the survey to all Robins fans, and in their chance to tell Nigel Pearson how they feel, they sent a firm message. Bring him back. a

Our survey had 112 respondents and 77.7% of them said yes to whether they should re-sign the Bristol-born left-back. Another question posed to fans was if you could realistically sign any player who you would want to sign and first was Bryan with eight people putting him on the top of their transfer list.

Last month, news broke that Bristol City had been linked with a sensational return for Bryan, but they faced competition from the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Cardiff City, Millwall, and Swansea City. The 29-year-old is out of contract and his deal with Fulham is expiring, and it isn’t being renewed after spending the season on loan at Nice, playing alongside Aaron Ramsey, Ross Barkley, and Kasper Schmeichel.

A deal has not yet been struck, but according to The Athletic, City are leading the way for his signature. Nice’s season does not finish until June 3, but once their season concludes we should expect an announcement to be made.

Two deals are believed to be ‘close’ according to Nigel Pearson’s transfer revelation on Monday, with Bryan and Aberdeen’s Ross McCrorie set to join. He said: “We’re pretty close now to doing a couple of deals. “We’ll still try and conclude a couple of deals as early as possible and then outside of that it’s trying to see what is available in the type of market we’re looking for.”

Despite being used on a sparingly basis by Nice, fans are not put off by Bryan’s lack of game time and are excited about his impending return to the West Country. He has made 11 appearances in all competitions this year, and his last appearance came in mid-April, having missed the last three matches, and then being an unused substitute. His last start for the French club was in January when they suffered a defeat to Le Puy Foot in the third round of the Coupe de France. Bryan’s last league start came in October, when he played against Nantes.

The reason fans are so excited however, is down to his previous spell at the club. He came through the academy and went on to make 230 appearances for the club, featuring in the side that reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup. His 21 goals and 29 assists in first spell make him an attractive proposition. He’s rejoining City at a time where there is an emphasis on young homegrown talent and imagine the inspiration the likes of Cameron Pring, Tommy Conway and Sam Bell can take from playing alongside someone so highly thought of.

Bryan’s also had a bit of experience in the Premier League and has won back-to-back promotions with Fulham. He departed the Gate for Craven Cottage, and during the COVID-19 season, scored the winning goal in the play-off final at Wembley. Bryan later helped the Cottagers to a brilliant Championship win. City’s goal is to win promotion, and the play-offs are a realistic aim, so bringing back their hometown hero is the first big step in to doing that.