Nigel Pearson is confident that Bristol City are closing in on their first two signings of the summer and is working on the assumption that Alex Scott will remain with the Robins for next season.
Throughout his time at Ashton Gate, Pearson has also maintained his preference for getting the bulk of his business secured before pre-season kicks off. After the frustrations of his first summer window in 2021, that proved the case 12 months ago when Kal Naismith, Mark Sykes and Kane Wilson were all announced before mid-June.
Speaking on BBC Radio Bristol, the manager appeared optimistic of a similar set of circumstances occurring in this post-season although, of course, he was reluctant to divulge any names or details.
City are understood to have been in talks with Aberdeen’s Ross McCrorie and Crystal Palace defender Jake O’Brien, while AFC Wimbledon left-back Jack Currie and Joe Bryan are also players of interest for the club.
“We’re pretty close to doing a couple of deals but you know what I’m like, I'm not one for airing stuff publicly when you’re still talking about other people’s players,” Pearson told BBC Radio Bristol.
“We will try and get a couple of deals concluded as early as possible and then outside of that it’s really to see what’s available in the type of market we’re looking for.”
Along with potential incomings, City’s transfer narrative is also being driven by Alex Scott’s position with the midfielder interesting a host of top-flight clubs but, as it stands, the Robins are yet to receive any bids.
Pearson and owner Steve Lansdown have publicly declared that £25m is a baseline figure for the England Under-20 international, who will be playing at the World Cup in Argentina from next week, and he once again reiterated that position that any offers will need to be “ridiculous” before they are deemed acceptable.
The City manager has also reinforced his position that his transfer plans don’t hinge on having to sell the 19-year-old, with the hope that he can retain the club’s Player of the Season for 2023/24.
“Of course, there are things that possibly could change if players leave; if players leave that facilitate other deals but, in all honest, I’d rather work to the assumption that we keep all of our players intact, the ones that we’ve got, and that includes people like Alex Scott,” Pearson added.
“They’re in the building until someone comes in with a ridiculous bid and it would have to be a really good bid to take him out. Alex, as well, is very keen to continue his own development. It’ll be nice for us to have a crack at getting promotion next season with all our young players still here. We’ve got a better chance of keeping our best players if we are successful.”
Scott’s future is likely to remain a subject for discussion throughout the summer, right up to when the window closes because, ultimately, as much as the Robins want and think they can keep him, they are at the mercy of whether a Premier League club wants to lavish several millions on him.
However, Pearson has pointed to a slight culture change in terms of recruitment which is focused on continuity as much as anything else, not buying or selling too many and causing upheaval every transfer window.
Scott’s position speaks of that because ultimately another season of the Guernsey playmaker will be beneficial for him and the club, but then should their price point be met or even exceeded, that could prompt further squad development and knowing when the right point is to sell is as important as anything.
It certainly doesn’t seem that the club will be left in an Adam Webster-type scenario whereby the centre-back was sold on the eve of the 2019/20 campaign for £20m to Brighton & Hove Albion, which represented an excellent fee and source of revenue, but with barely of a week of the transfer window remaining to secure a replacement and City subsequently suffered that season.
“I can only talk from my own experience,” Pearson said. “Anecdotally I know we had a different policy before; clubs try different ways to gain success and I suppose the philosophy then was to produce players, sell them on and then reinvest in the squad. It depends how that’s done.
“I just think, at times, the club has had too many players, too many players on loan and what we’re trying to do now is create an atmosphere which is quite tight and we want our players to enjoy success with us.
“The reality of the situation is, of course, there will be occasion that if a sale occurs that suits everybody - and what I mean by that is we are in a position to accelerate the squad development - they are always conversations. Nothing has been set in stone on decisions on any individuals.
"I would like to think now there’s a better communication link from top and bottom, there’s a real connection between what the academy do and what the first-team do. We have more direction within the football club because of that because we know what we’re trying to produce. Consequently, everyone who works in the academy knows what they’re trying to produce for the first team.”
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