Nigel Pearson has confirmed they sanctioned Ryley Towler's move to Portsmouth after weighing up the quality of defenders coming through the ranks and believes he will "benefit massively" from a permanent move away.
The Bristol City youngster is on the verge of signing a deal with the League One side after the two clubs agreed a fee believed to be in the low six-figure region with future incentives. Towler, 20, had been enjoying a really positive loan spell with AFC Wimbledon and has earned rave reviews during his time in south London.
The expectation was that he would remain with Johnnie Jackson's side until the end of the season before returning to City. However, after Portsmouth's surprise offer, the club decided a switch would be the best scenario for all parties concerned.
"Ryley needs to find his level," Pearson said in Friday's press conference ahead of the FA Cup tie against Swansea City. "We have lots of players in the system now. We're delighted for him because he's a great lad and a decent player.
"Because of our ability to develop players here, there are a lot of players here speaking to many coaches in the academy, believe we've got better in the system. It's quite straightforward forward really. We try to produce players for ourselves and we've been successful at doing that.
"Ryley's had opportunities with the first team and done okay but we want to try and produce top-end players for ourselves. It's as simple as that so decisions have to be made and I think we've had quite long periods here of collecting players and keeping them in the building and re-loaning them out. "
Having joined the club at the age of eight, this was Towler's fourth loan spell away from the club following stints with Frome Town, Taunton and three months with National League Grimsby at the beginning of last season.
He made one first-team appearance for the Robins last season which came in a difficult 45-minute cameo against Millwall. Prior to that, he played three times in the Championship under Dean Holden.
City do have a depth of defenders coming through the ranks. Joe Low has just joined Walsall on loan, Raph Araoye is highly-regarded, Callum Wood and Jamie Knight-Lebel continue to impress with the Under-21s while Duncan Idehen has also recently returned from a loan with Carlisle.
"Sometimes you just have to make decisions on players and it's in their interest as well to go and play regular football," Pearson added. "Somebody like Cam Pring (eight loan spells), would be a good example of if you want to be really, really, patient but I'm not sure it was a lot of patience, it was more he was just farmed out time after time.
"I don't think that's good for anybody. I've played with players who were serial loanees and I can tell you, talking to players who are that type of players, it's not particularly good for them. We make decisions that we feel are right for the football club.
"Ryley's flittered in between the Under-21s, the first team, has been out on loan and it's a decision we've made as a club that we feel is in the best interest of us and in the best interest of Ryley. He would benefit massively from building his career elsewhere. Good for him."
Pearson also confirmed the money generated from Towler's sale will not be put towards investing in new arrivals for the first-team but instead used to put money back into City's academy.
He said: "I think it's a fantastic opportunity for him and he deserves it. He's done well for us but he also needed to go out and play games. It's a positive move for him.
"As it stands at the moment, the clubs have agreed on a fee but it's now down to see whether the deal gets completed. Until it's done, I can't confirm it's over the line. That's just how these things work.
"But that's not going to affect the first-team operation. If that money can be reinvested back into the academy, then even better."
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