Watford enter Kane Wilson race as Bristol City dealt blow by Oxford United defender

Bristol City now face competition from Championship rivals Watford for the signature of Forest Green Rovers defender Kane Wilson.

Wilson, 24, played 45 times in the league last season and got 13 assists and three goals from wing-back in what was a career best season.

The Robins for the last month been reportedly interested in the League Two Player of the Year since March and were thought to be in a good position to sign him.

Now they face competition from one of the recently relegated sides from the Premier League who will have more financial muscle with the receipt of parachute payments.

A report from the Watford Observer says that Wilson is one player that newly appointed boss Rob Edwards would like to work with again if he were to consider signing players from his former club.

The right wing-back of course played under the new Hornets boss for the entirety of the season, playing a huge part as one of the key components of the team that won the league title.

Nottingham Forest were thought to be admirers of him too and sent scouts to watch his games but may move on to a different target after their promotion.

“Kane Wilson will be really tough to keep,” said FGR’s director of football Richard Hughes in an interview a fortnight ago in the latest public update about the players next destination.

“We expect he has Championship interest. Nothing has happened yet – but he did really well this season, and he’s shown how we can help players progress.”

City have already made two signings in the transfer market this window including utility man Kal Naismith on a free transfer from Luton Town.

The 30-year-old was the Hatters’ Player of the Season last year in a year where Luton were the surprise package of the division reaching the play-offs.

For a majority of last season, the Scotland international played mainly as a centre-back and captained his side on a number of occasions, but also played as a defensive midfielder.

Naismith played on both wings during the early stages of his career but was also a left-back in the 2020/21 campaign so there is a number of options as to where he could play.

Wilson plays on the opposite side to Naismith and the latter could yet play as a centre-back in an area Nigel Pearson was keen to strengthen in.

They have been dealt a blow however after Elliot Moore, a reported target back in April, signed new terms with Oxford United, as he looks to find a different route to English football’s second tier.

Moore, who was at Leicester City at the same time as Pearson and also played under him in Belgium at OHL, has put pen to paper on a three-year deal at the Kassam Stadium.

His contract had already been extended by a year after Oxford activated a clause in his former deal but the captain has gone one step further and agreed new terms that secures his future in Oxfordshire.

The City boss had watched him and the summer window’s first recruit Mark Sykes against MK Dons and there was interest but they will now have to move on to alternative targets.

One is Curtis Davies, who brings an abundance of Championship experience which is what Pearson was looking to bring into what is a youthful squad.

They have been given a slight boost that Hull City are not interested in him according to a report from Hull Live. Davies had initial talks with the Tigers but a move is now ‘unlikely to come to fruition’.

It had been thought that the 37-year-old would remain at Pride Park which seemed the likeliest of options but the Rams have suffered another setback in their takeover bid from Chris Kirchner.