Bristol City have submitted their squad list to the EFL which emphasises just how much space Nigel Pearson has for manoeuvre in the transfer market but also shows the number of hugely talented youngsters the manager has at his disposal.
Clubs must submit their final registered squad at the end of every transfer window with requirements of a maximum quota of 25 players while at least eight of those must be home grown. There is an exception for Under-21 players who do not need to be registered unless they are with the club on loan.
On Monday, the EFL published those lists and it showed City registering just 19 players in total. Of those, 14 are home grown. The Robins have a huge number of contracted Under-21 players with 30 named.
These include the likes of Alex Scott, Tommy Conway, Ayman Benarous, Han-Noah Massengo and Stefan Bajic. Pearson signed four new players this summer in Mark Sykes, Kane Wilson, Kal Naismith and Bajic.
City's financial situation prevented Pearson from landing at least two more targets with the manager eager to sign a central defender and a left-sided player. However, it was clear he was keen to bolster his numbers, particularly at the back, as he made continued reference to the lack of squad depth throughout the summer.
Pearson is unlikely to exploit the free agent market before the window opens in January after claiming last week he will only sign players if they are better than what he already has. Some notable names without a club at the moment include Gary Cahill, Winston Reid, Michael Hector and Ryan Bennett.
If, as a hypothetical example, City do have an injury crisis at the back, Pearson will have the option to sign Sol Bamba who continues to train with the squad. The veteran centre-back hinted at a potential short-term deal two weeks ago when he lined up for City's Under-21 side but was left out the following week.
When asked about Bamba's situation last week, Pearson gave no hints that a deal was imminent and further repeated the notion that he was helping the player out in regards to maintaining his fitness.
He said: "He's still training, it's to help Sol get fit and that's why he's still here.
"He's thankful to be able to come in and train and he's a very positive person to have around the place so I don't have any issue with that."
The most likely scenario is Pearson will stick with his current squad until at least January when the winter transfer window reopens. Much could depend on City's league position after Christmas but there is likely to be more transfer speculation regarding Antoine Semenyo and Alex Scott if they maintain their brilliant form.
After Bajic became the club's fourth and final signing of the window at the beginning of July, Pearson admitted he was working with a one-in-one-out policy. As no more players left the club, no more arrivals were brought in.
That could change in the New Year and if Semenyo or Scott did leave, they would generate a large cash windfall which is likely to be reinvested. The space in City's squad means Pearson will not need to be wary about the number of players he can bring in.
However, January has always been a notoriously difficult window to operate in with teams tending to inflate asking prices. Last week, Pearson spoke about squad development and reiterated the need to be frugal. He said: "It's all relative to your own circumstances and we will endeavour to continue to build our squad and develop it at the rate we can."
Business could also depend on whether they can generate a January fee for the likes of Han-Noah Massengo who is edging closer to the expiration of his contract next summer although it appears increasingly likely he will leave the club on a free transfer. Like all players out of contract in 2023, they can agree a pre-contract with a foreign club in January ahead of a summer free transfer.
Tomas Kalas, Dan Bentley, Jay Dasilva, Chris Martin and Nahki Wells are all notable names whose deals are also expiring in 2023 but Pearson admitted yesterday there is no rush to begin contract negotiations just yet.
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