Kane Wilson is scheduled to report for the first day of pre-season training at Bristol City on Monday as his anticipated move to Bolton Wanderers hangs in the balance, Bristol Live understands.
Wilson was due to sign for the League One club last week and a medical was booked for the full-back but the transfer is said to have stalled due to a disagreement over certain terms within the deal.
A fee in the region of £200,000 was agreed plus add-ons between City and Bolton, and Wilson’s salary expectations were thought to have been met but negotiations have continued over the weekend.
For now, Wilson remains part of Nigel Pearson’s squad and will be required to attend testing at the High Performance Centre on Monday morning.
His future beyond that is decidedly uncertain but the expectation remains that should the Bolton transfer not come to pass, there is still enough interest in the 23-year-old to facilitate a sale this summer.
Wilson’s path to the first team is blocked by George Tanner and potentially new signing Ross McCrorie - who won’t be present at the HPC as he’s been given extra time off due to his place in the Scotland squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers against Norway and Georgia - and Under-21 prospect Harry Leeson, while Pearson also used Mark Sykes and Andi Weimann at times as right wing-backs last season.
The potential for Jason Knight being signed this summer only further complicates the situation for Wilson who after a frustrating 12 months of being injured or on the fringes of the matchday squad wants to be playing regularly.
Other absentees on the first day of pre-season are likely to include Tommy Conway (Scotland Under-21), Sykes (Republic of Ireland), Anis Mehmeti (Albania), Alex Scott (England U20), Joe Low (Wales), Stefan Bajic (France U21) and Marlee Francois (Australia U23) following their respective international exploits.
Should they not be present in Failand, those players - Bajic aside as he's currently competing at the European Under-21 Championships in Romania - will return in time for City’s training camp in Austria.
The status of Tomas Kalas will also make for an interesting talking point as the Czech Republic international is out of contract on Friday but remains a City player as he deliberates over signing extended terms.
The 30-year-old has experienced an injury-ravaged final 15 months of his time at Ashton Gate and the Robins have offered a significantly reduced contract on the deal he signed in 2019 when he joined for a club record fee from Chelsea.
Kalas is exploring the free agent market and whether he remains a City player or moves on is very much up in the air. However, his lack of attendance at the HPC on Monday, should that come to pass, would indicate the latter scenario is more likely.
Han-Noah Massengo is the other significant senior squad member on an expiring contract and while City have offered him a new deal, that is merely to engineer compensation once he finds a new club as the France Under-21 international has decided his future lies away from the West Country.
Reports over the weekend detailed how Bundesliga clubs Wolfsburg and Freiburg had joined Monaco and Burnley as interested parties. From City’s perspective, it’s beneficial for Massengo to find a club in England as they should receive a greater compensation package.
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