Lee Johnson says he is not raiding former club Bristol City for their best players as he confirms Reuben McAllister's move to Hibernian is "probably going to happen."
It was reported on Friday how City's highly-rated 16-year-old midfielder is set to team up with Johnson at the Scottish side on a three-year deal. His dad Jamie McAllister was recently appointed as his No2.
A fee is thought to be around £120,000 with a significant sell-on clause. Hibernian will also eye the transfer as a major coup with a number of Premier League sides reportedly interested including Newcastle, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion and Leicester City - plus Scottish giants Celtic and Rangers.
McAllister, who featured for City's Under-23 side at the age of just 15, has been on a two-year scholarship in BS3. However, the move up north is down to family reasons as he looks set to join their Development side.
Johnson was quizzed on the impending transfer in which he added was still not yet done. Reported by Edinburgh Evening News, he said: "It's probably going to happen but it's not definite, it's not done. We wouldn't have had the opportunity had Jamie [McAllister] and myself not been here.
"We believe it's the best pathway for him. He's a top young player but at the same time we've got a lot of respect for Bristol City – it's a family thing, we're not raiding them for their best players.”
City had a specific pathway set up for McAllister in his route to the first-team and there was a real chance he could have earned more minutes in the U23 side in the upcoming season.
Nigel Pearson is also keen for youngsters to train with the first-team, winger Marlee Francios the latest player to be working alongside the senior squad as revealed in the latest Robins uncut video posted on social media.
However as Johnson mentioned, his expected move to Hibernian is likely to mean the McAllister family could leave their Bristol home to start a new life north of the border.
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