The transfer window came and went with Nigel Pearson retaining all his key players for the first half of the 2022/23 season as continuity has proved a key aspect of the manager’s vision for the club.
This summer was the second in succession of relatively minimal first-team business into the club, albeit influenced by the Robins’ financial position, with four through the door, added to the four in 2021, with Timm Klose then signing in the winter.
With moves out of the club for individuals whose contributions were not justifying their wages, that has helped Pearson foster a culture and identity, with players on the same page and fully aware of their roles in the system.
However, next summer could change all that with a considerable chunk of the first-team squad out of contract and some decisions and serious negotiations to be made over the next 12 months, depending on what Pearson wants and what those individuals themselves want to do.
Here’s an updated list of the City squad, and their contract status with the September 1 deadline having passed. Just to note, to keep it relatively streamlined, we've only included players who have either made a first-team appearance or been part of a Championship matchday squad, hence no mention of Under-21 prospects Tommy Backwell, Seb Palmer-Houlden or Raphael Araoye, who signed new deals over the summer.
2023
Dan Bentley
Jay Dasilva
Owura Edwards (club hold one-year option)
Tomas Kalas
Andy King
Timm Klose (club hold one-year option)
Han-Noah Massengo
Chris Martin
Taylor Moore (club hold one-year option)
James Morton (club hold one-year option)
Max O'Leary (club hold one-year option)
Josh Owers
Antoine Semenyo (club hold one-year option)
Nahki Wells
Harvey Wiles-Richards
Zak Vyner (club hold one-year option)
City no longer have a Kasey Palmer-sized contract hanging over them following the midfielder’s money-saving departure to Coventry City, while Tyreeq Bakinson has also lightened the load on this front after he left for Sheffield Wednesday.
They do, however, as you can see, still have 16 (which in the days of the vidiprinter would require a “sixteen” after it) out of contract next summer, 10 of which can be classified as important first-team players.
We know new offers are on the table for Han-Noah Massengo and Antoine Semenyo, while the latter may as well be in the 2024 category because the club will activate the option they hold in his contract. Which may already have happened, without being made public, after Steve Lansdown stated in early August that he still has two years left to run on his agreement.
Dan Bentley, Jay Dasilva, Tomas Kalas and Nahki Wells are interesting cases because they are players that Nigel Pearson would like to keep, but who if they are to remain in BS3 beyond next summer need to take some kind of pay reduction or a longer-term contract, as their salaries agreed in the 2019/20 simply aren’t workable in the current financial climate.
Pearson has said repeatedly that he doesn’t want to see players running their contracts down and while the club are going to have to get busy to ensure that won’t happen you can see a number of his group - particularly Kalas, Wells and Bentley - potentially waiting until next summer to see what their value is like in the market before committing to any kind of extension.
Appearance-related clauses are likely tied into Andy King (who could also continue solely in a coaching capacity), Timm Klose and Chris Martin’s deal.
2024
Rob Atkinson (club hold one-year option)
Duncan Idehen
Matty James
Sam Pearson
Cam Pring (club hold one-year option)
George Tanner (club hold one-year option)
Ryley Towler
Andi Weimann
Joe Williams
A group that includes three signings from last summer - Rob Atkinson, George Tanner and Matty James - plus key first-team players such as Joe Williams and Andi Weimann.
In normal circumstances, such has been his outrageous form, you’d imagine the Austrian would be eligible for a new deal but such is the volume of players the Robins need to be in negotiations with, and the fact he’s just turned 31, it’s probably something that will be broached next summer where the situations comes more to a head.
There has been some transfer interest in City’s top scorer from last season, albeit without any bids, and even if he replicates 75 per cent of his 2021/22 campaign that’s likely to resurface, especially with his presence back on the international scene.
The future of Weimann therefore could be a subplot next summer, and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if he’s offered an extra year or two on his contract, assuming, of course, he maintains his level of impact.
Atkinson, meanwhile, is developing into an outstanding Championship defender but that extra year’s option gives City a degree more security and doesn’t force them into any hasty decisions in 2023.
2025
- Stefan Bajic
- Sam Bell
- Ayman Benarous
- Tommy Conway
- Kal Naismith
- Alex Scott
- Mark Sykes (club hold one-year option)
- Kane Wilson
The class of 2022 plus two of City’s most well-regarded young prospects, although if Alex Scott remains at the Robins to see out his agreement either something has gone wrong or the club will be playing in the Premier League.
That’s not to be defeatist but his rate of development is such, that his place in the top flight seems a matter of when, not if, and it's certainly unlikely to be as far into the future as 2025.
That being said, it does give City a strong bargaining position, as was the case over the summer just past, and allowed them to set a high price-tag for the teenager that Premier League teams simply weren’t willing to meet. Another full season of Championship football on his CV could change all that.
Tommy Conway also fits into the same thought-process as his sensational start to the new season is sure to attract scouts to Ashton Gate to run the rule over the striker and if he continues at a similar rate, City will undoubtedly have to be quoting high fees to interest clubs next summer.
Kal Naismith, Kane Wilson and Mark Sykes should be important players for City over the next three years and while the latter two’s ceiling is yet to be reached, so we’re not quite sure how they’ll progress, it’s reassuring to know, that in the case of the Scot, the Robins have a high-level established centre-back at this level until 2025.
SIGN UP: For our daily Robins newsletter, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate
READ NEXT
