Bristol City have been linked with a January move for Serie A central defender Koffi Djidji, according to reports.
The 29-year-old Torino player is out of contract at the end of the season but an article in Italian publication Sport Mediaset claim he could look to leave the Turin side in January either on loan or in a permanent deal.
It's an intriguing rumour considering Nigel Pearson's intention to strengthen his backline in the summer. The City manager has made it no secret of his desire to improve his defence only if he can raise funds through player sales.
The report states that City could have competition for his signature with Premier League side Fulham and Belgium team Anderlecht. Djidji has started 12 games for Torino in Serie A this season with his side sitting in ninth.
Born in France, he came through the youth side at Nantes before moving to Torino on loan in the 2018/19 season. The Italian side made his move permanent in the following summer before a brief temporary spell with Crotone.
The extent of the truth to the reports is unknown but given City's desire to improve the defence on a budget, it certainly provides food for thought. Before the World Cup break, Pearson hinted at the possibility of selling one of their assets to improve his squad depth.
Pearson wanted to bring in at least one more central defender in the summer but wasn't able to raise the necessary funds. A lack of depth at the back has been notable in the absences of Tomas Kalas and Kal Naismith through injury.
Pearson reiterated that he has no money to spend in the window unless they do some training but he also refused to rule out a loan move if the right player came available.
"What's been the underlining is too many individual errors have cost us and that's something we have to continue to work at," Pearson said.
"Whether we'll be able to do some trading remains to be seen but that will only happen if players leave essentially. We're not as a club going to change our strategy in what we're trying to do and that is still to be competitive but reduce costs.
"Whether I like it or anybody else like it or not. That's where we are at the moment.
"So I'll just reiterate what I've already said and that is we would need players to leave before we can do business to bring players in. That's it. That's what it is. We should be getting better results than what we've had but we've continued to make errors that have cost us games and that's unfortunate for us."
When referring to a potential loan deal in January, he added: "Good loans are expensive.
"I'm not writing them off because if we get the opportunity to do that in the right area then fine but the area that still needs addressing and we've been unable to fill and do the business we would have liked this summer is still in a defensive position."
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