Nigel Pearson has forecast a quiet final week of the summer transfer window but has conceded he will look to recruit at least two players, should Bristol City be forced into the market by the sale of one of their prized assets.
Pearson’s contempt for the circus around deadline day is well established and the City manager admits he has no intention of joining the staff, who will be on alert at the Robins High Performance Centre, for late pizza on Thursday night, should there be any movement.
Speaking on Monday, the 59-year-old isn’t anticipating much activity over the next four days as Thursday’s 11pm cut-off looms but accepts the club will be called into action should a significant bid - and he mentioned a figure of £30m - be forthcoming for any of his players.
That sort of fee, whether it be said seriously or slightly in jest, is only relevant to Antoine Semenyo or Alex Scott, and also likely to be above what any of the youngster’s Premier League suitors are willing to pay. The manager insisted that while there has been continual speculation around the duo, particularly the former, “nothing’s happened” in terms of Richard Gould receiving any kind of credible offer.
That is tempered by his admission that his squad still lacks the requisite depth - particularly at centre-back and on the left-hand side - so reinforcements are on the agenda, but he’d rather keep the squad he presently has together then have to react by bringing in new players in such a short space of time.
“The longer it goes on, if somebody comes in with a bid for our player that we feel is right for the club to take and I stress the word ‘we’, the later it goes on, the less chance we have of doing business ourselves,” Pearson said. “So, it stands to reason that it’s not good business for us to sell a player late on as well, because it weakens us massively.
“I’m not just getting any old player in here to make the numbers up - what’s the point? How long has the summer been?
“Deadline week, for me… it’s good for you lot in the media because you have something to talk about, and that you can make things up and speculate, which is great. You can expand other people’s nonsensical questions, which is great as it’s something for you to do.
“But it’s a part of the show and part of the industry that keeps people interested. I think the fans get really excited but then you have someone like me who says, ‘don’t get excited because I don’t expect anything to happen’, but something might .
“I’ve got my eyes on getting somebody in and have done all summer. Say for instance, hypothetically, one of our players left, and we don’t want any of our players to leave - let’s be absolutely crystal clear on that - we would probably like to get at least two players in, and one would hopefully be a permanent and one would probably be a loan.
"But that’s as close as you're ever going to get me speculating because, in my own head I probably think nothing will happen, and I hope we don’t have to let one of our players go because we want our best players here.
“Centre-back, left side, you always need more players but only if they’re good enough,” he added. “And, look, there’s no point collecting players. This week, for instance, as far as I’m concerned, deadline day - forget it, I’m not interested, really, unless somebody comes with £30million for one of our players. Then that’s a different kettle of fish.
“But I’m not interested in last-minute dot com because we’ve had all summer, and so has everybody else. Deadline day for me is a gimmick that has been blown out of all proportion by TV. Really, it’s a nonsense. But there will be lots of business done and, no doubt, we’ll have staff in here with pizzas and sandwiches. I won’t be here, no chance.”
Pearson’s desire for an additional centre-back is understandable given he’s favoured playing three at the back for almost a year now and only currently has three fit senior centre-backs in Kal Naismith, Rob Atkinson and Zak Vyner with Ryley Towler behind them but largely part of the Under-21 set-up.
Tomas Kalas hasn’t played since March after groin and knee trouble, while Timm Klose has sustained a knee injury which kept him out of the matchday squad at Blackpool on Saturday and could prevent him from being the 18 against Huddersfield Town on Wednesday, although isn’t thought to be serious.
Nathan Baker’s unfortunate retirement, which was confirmed on Monday, and Robbie Cundy’s decision to reject City’s contract offer and sign for League One Barnsley, where he was likely to win more first-team minutes, has left Pearson short, even with Naismith’s arrival from Luton Town.
His mention of the left-hand side is an interesting one as Jay Dasilva has started all six of City’s Championship fixtures with Cam Pring in reserve but the latter has also been in and out of the squad despite being fit, with the suspicion that Kane Wilson could now be viewed as Pearson’s second choice on that side of the field, despite his primary role being on the other flank. The belief had previously been that Pearson would lean towards wanting a defensive midfielder, due to the lack of a specialist in that position.
Ultimately, no manager can always get what they want out of a transfer window and Pearson and City have to remain patient as they look to develop the squad with the backdrop of adhering to the EFL’s Profit & Sustainability regulations which means incoming business has to be carefully managed.
That is the case for much of the 72 clubs outside the Premier League and Pearson remains mystified and exasperated so many are still engaged in recruitment at this late stage, with the transfer window having been open since June 10.
“Numbers and quality,” Pearson said, in terms of what he thinks his squad is lacking. “What I mean by quality, I don’t mean some of our players aren’t necessarily good enough, (I mean) they’re not week-in, week-out players.
“When you consider last season we relied very heavily on an 18-year-old in his debut season… wow. We’re having to reshape our squad from a different sort of stance. Which is the right way for us to do it. For instance, when I came here, I wouldn’t want to have that squad again, even though numbers-wise, there were more. I’d rather have fewer players and more reliable people, better characters and better players.
“We are getting there, but because the circumstances in which we are trying to rebuild the side, clearly it’s slower and we cannot compete with some other clubs. That’s not me moaning, that’s just me pointing out the obvious.
“So when agents try to get busy, as they have done over the last few weeks as they try to get players on loan, I just think, ‘shut up’."
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