Tomas Kalas’ Bristol City future is unlikely to be resolved until later into the summer as the defender remains in negotiations with the club over a new contract but with no immediate conclusion in sight, Bristol Live understands.
City have until Saturday to publish their retained list for the summer with Kalas and Jay Dasilva’s respective futures the main bones of contention among the five senior players who are set to become free agents.
Kalas has been offered a new contract on significantly reduced terms from the one he signed in 2019, in-part due to his injury issues over the last two seasons which have limited him to just two starts since March 2022, but also because of the vastly different financial landscape that now exists in the Championship.
When Kalas signed from Chelsea four years ago he was the club’s record signing, approaching his peak as a professional and salaries in the second tier were at a high level, to the point the Czech Republic international’s wage, while high for City, was simply just seen as competitive around the division.
However, post-Covid 19 and with the collapse of the transfer market that sort of figure is now only reserved for those in receipt of parachute payments and the Robins have worked hard to bring their overall wage ceiling across the squad to a much more manageable and financially sustainable level.
When Kalas’ lack of first-team involvement is factored in, it makes sense why City’s offer represents a major decrease for the 30-year-old, but ultimately Nigel Pearson would like to retain the centre-back for next season and beyond.
Bristol Live understands that Kalas has tentative interest in Europe, albeit without any concrete offers, but there is increasing confidence within his camp that as free agency approaches he could test the waters on the open market where a more lucrative deal could become available.
With the Czech having turned 30 this week he is acutely aware that this could be one of the last opportunities in his career he has to sign a long-term contract. That’s tempered, however, by the fact he’s well-settled in the West Country with his partner from Bristol and in an ideal situation he would like to remain in BS3.
It looks increasingly likely that Kalas, and potentially Dasilva, could mimic the decision of his former centre-back colleague Nathan Baker who was effectively released in the summer of 2021, only to then re-sign five weeks later when it became clear he couldn’t get a better offer elsewhere, coupled with the continuity of being able to stay at City.
Pearson alluded to such on BBC Radio Bristol on Monday when he said: “To a large extent they’re governed by finances. For Tomas, it’s really unfortunate for him because he’s been a regular performer for our club and he’s had two seasons of having to deal with injuries which have changed the complexion of how we, as a club, have to look at it because he’s one of our top earners.
“The finances always come into play. I would very much like him to be with us next season, it’s just whether we can come to an agreement.
“We’ll just see how that plays out. If you cast your mind back a couple of seasons ago to Nathan Baker, who was initially on the list of players to be released, we ended up re-signing him. But those type of things now, the climate within the game has changed somewhat so that everybody is being careful with the finances.”
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