As is the beauty of the transfer window, it can deliver the most bizarre and unexpected rumours from sightings in local petrol stations to the spotting of personalised number plates a few miles from the stadium.
Then it becomes a game of Chinese whispers as speculation spreads like wildfire over messageboards or over a pint in a pub on a Friday evening without any real concrete evidence that the deal will go through.
Hopes are raised and then ultimately dashed as time moves on and it becomes increasingly clear the rumours are nothing short of that, just talk and speculation. However, you get the odd couple that have legs and ultimately gather traction whether they are potential club-record transfers or loans for Premier League talents.
Like all clubs, Bristol City have had their fair share since their return to the Championship in 2015 when deals appear to be on the brink of being completed only to fall through in the final stages.
There's no sign of that happening this time around with three new names through the door but with Nigel Pearson still working hard to continue making new signings this summer, let's hope they don't end up in the same result as the names below.
Here are five high profile City transfers that fell through in the final stages...
Harry Maguire
Bristol City were riding on a wave of success at the end of the 2014/15 campaign when promotion to the Championship topped off a famous double-winning campaign.
Boss Steve Cotterill was looking to bolster his squad during that summer and was hoping to bring in a central defender to compete for a starting role alongside Derrick Williams and Aden Flint. Hull City's Maguire was one of the targets on the shortlist, following a loan spell with Championship side Wigan.
Maguire had failed to get himself in Hull's side as they battled for Premier League survival which ultimately ended in their relegation to the Championship.
Sky Sports reported City had seen a £2.5m bid turned down but it was suggested a deal to sign Maguire was close with then-Hull boss Steve Bruce already lining up his replacement. The story went that City had agreed terms with the Tigers to bring the player to the club.
However, the board would then hesitate claiming the agreed fee would limit the amount of money available to spend on other areas of the squad and a renegotiated offer was then turned down - angering those behind the scenes at Hull including manager Bruce. That deal then fell through and the rest, as they say, is history.
Eddie Nketiah
One of the infamous transfer sagas that will go down in the history books and apologies for bringing his name up again if you've attempted to erase the ordeal from the memory.
Links with the young Arsenal striker first appeared in the summer of 2019 when the Gunners were keen to send their young prospect out on loan. Everything seemed to be going smoothly on the transfer front with Lee Johnson sure he had sealed the move ahead of the upcoming campaign.
On August 7, City had arranged a medical for Nketiah, the final hurdle before completing his switch. However, the player didn't show up following reports Leeds United had launched an 11th-hour offer to snap him under the noses of the Robins.
A big blow for Johnson, Nketiah would return to his parent club in January after struggling for game time under Marcelo Bielsa. So it was take two as City once again looked to push through a deal for the second half of the campaign.
Once again, expectations were raised when a glitch on the Arsenal website left supporters assuming it was a done deal after they listed Nketiah as being out on loan before any official announcement was made.
On January 12, with the deal still hanging in the balance, Johnson told the press he was still hopeful of completing the transfer with the move complicated after Nketiah had changed his agent. On the Friday prior, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted he was down the final three clubs for Nketiah to complete his switch.
However on January 15, the move had fallen through for a second time following further talks with Arteta and went on to feature in 13 league appearances, scoring two goals.
Andre Gray
Back to the summer of 2015 and the hunt for a striker seemed to be done and dusted when Andre Gray looked set to sign a £9m deal with the Robins as he prepared to leave Brentford.
An offer was accepted with the striker in demand after scoring an impressive 18 goals for the Bees in the season prior, firing his side to the play-offs. Hull City were also linked with his move.
Steve Bruce even came out and claimed City had blown them out of the water by saying: "We've chased him for a long, long time, but we have not matched what Bristol have offered. We've known the price all along. It's pretty straightforward, we've not matched their valuation. It's frustrating but that is football management."
Gray even stayed at the Marriott hotel in the city centre to complete the deal on a rather lucrative contract to make him one of the club's highest-paid players.
However, Gray would turn down the transfer with Brentford coach Marinus Dijkhuizen saying: "A bid was accepted by the club from Bristol City and for the past couple of days he has been talking with them, but he did not agree and now he is back."
Just a day later and Gray had signed for Burnley in a club-record £6m move with the player going on to score 23 goals in 41 appearances.
Dwight Gayle
Gray wasn't the first striker to turn City down during that transfer window, with Dwight Gayle also opting against signing for City.
Gayle was at Crystal Palace at the time but looked set to leave Selhurst Park after the Robins had a £6m offer accepted for the talented striker with Cotterill looking for a partner to play alongside Jonathan Kodjia.
Cotterill would say at the time: "We’ve had a bid accepted and that’s as far as it has gone. He’s someone we’d like to have at the football club.”
However, Gayle turned down the move to Ashton Gate in an attempt to fight for his place in Palace's first team, eventually making 16 Premier League appearances before earning a £10m switch to Newcastle 12 months later.
Gayle would later say of his failed move: "It was in my mind, but at the time I was still involved at Palace. I felt I needed to push myself for one more year there.
“I think I still made the right decision, and I’m happy where we are now.”
Callum Hudson-Odoi
In the summer of 2018, a rumour was doing the rounds that Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi was one of the targets on the radar of Johnson. The now 21-year-old had broken through the ranks of the Blues side in the season prior making two league appearances.
A deal appeared to be progressing as Johnson would later recall, before the Premier League giants appointed Maurizio Sarri as their new manager and Hudson-Odoi would end up impressing the Italian enough to convince him to remain at Stamford Bridge for another season.
Johnson said: "Obviously there are agents and he was a player that we were very keen to bring to the football club.
"His brother is a family friend of mine as well. Yeah, he's a top talent. And he scored two or three in one of the games I was watching - and I thought 'oh no'.
"Sarri had just entered the fray and he made a fantastic first impression and it probably killed our chances of bringing him in."
Bristol City did end up signing a winger in that transfer window with Niclas Eliasson joining the Robins for a £1.8million fee. He spent three years at Ashton Gate before leaving for Nimes in 2020.
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