Nigel Pearson says most of the money generated from the sale of Antoine Semenyo will be reinvested in the summer although Bristol City could welcome two new arrivals before the end of the window.
The 23-year-old striker is signing for Bournemouth subject to a medical in a deal worth an initial £9million plus add-ons. With personal terms already agreed, Semenyo could be unveiled as a Cherries player either today or Friday.
Confirming the transfer in his press conference, Pearson said City are working towards bringing in a replacement on a permanent deal although didn't want to divulge any details on the player out of respect for the other club. Semenyo's departure will be the highest fee they have received since Adam Webster's move to Brighton in the summer of 2019.
His sale and that of Lloyd Kelly's £13m move to Bournemouth sparked a flurry of transfer activity including the arrivals of Tomas Kalas on a club-record deal, Jay Dasilva, Dan Bentley, Han-Noah Massengo, Kasey Palmer, and then Nahki Wells in the January window. Given the tireless work to help balance the books in recent years, Pearson admits the days of reinvesting millions into the playing squad are long gone.
Instead, any arrivals made this month are likely to be for nominal fees, while the main focus will continue to be rebuilding the squad at the end of the season once there is further clarity on contract situations. As it stands, Kalas, Dasilva, Massengo and Zak Vyner are all approaching the end of the deals although the latter has a year option.
Speaking on Thursday, Pearson said: "The days of us going out and spending millions on players, they are not going to be here anytime soon. Even though, as it stands Bournemouth have met the valuation put on him so I know there's a possibility of investing some of it, but most of it will be in the summer.
"We'll still be trying to invest in a way which keeps us on the same pathway that we are on now - for want of a better term.
"We've had the sort of threat of financial fair play over us as many clubs have. Even without Antoine's sale, the judgement would be that we would meet that but we're still operating in a difficult situation just because of how the last two years have been.
"We're trying to reduce the wage bill, and we trying to make the operation more sustainable so to lose one of the better players, even though we would get a valuation that I think is fair, doesn't mean that all that money will go into buying more players.
"We'll invest time in everything. The academy, the recruitment but we will have to be sensible with how we do it. We're trying to create a structure in the department which has realism attached to it.
"That limits your options and that's the bottom line. It's the harsh reality that football has to deal with. We are involved in that. We have to cut our cloth accordingly and we want value for money when we do invest.
"Hopefully, we can get someone in this window, maybe two I don't know. But we won't bring people in for the sake of it."
Pearson confirmed they are working on a deal to sign a new forward to replace Semenyo, and a deal could be agreed within the next couple of days. While it could be a possibility it's done before Saturday's FA Cup fixture with West Brom, the likelihood is that it'll be completed early next week.
When asked whether he's looking at a player in a similar mould to Semenyo, Pearson responded: "We'll hopefully produce a few more like Antoine. I think one of the things that we've talked about Antoine quite extensively is his X-factor. He's a tremendous athlete but is capable of doing things that other players aren't.
"To try and replace an individual directly probably isn't a realistic thing to do. 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."
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