Bristol City published their retained list earlier this month, offering clarity on the futures of those whose deals were expiring this summer. Callum O'Dowda has ended his six-year spell in BS3, new contracts have been offered to Timm Klose, Robbie Cundy and Andy King, while promising academy products Louis Britton and Barney Soady were among those unfortunately released.
The Robins are still waiting on Klose, Cundy and King and whether that trio will remain in the West Country beyond this summer but such is the speed at which football moves, thoughts will also turn, if they haven't already, to the contract statuses of the rest of the squad, particularly those entering the final 12 months of their agreements.
Below is the expiry date of the remaining members of the City first-team and some of the decisions the club face in the coming months over a number of key individuals and how it could inform the Robins strategy in the summer transfer window...
2023
Nathan Baker
Tyreeq Bakinson
Dan Bentley
Jay Dasilva
Owura Edwards (club hold one-year option)
Saikou Janneh (club hold one-year option)
Tomas Kalas
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
Kasey Palmer
Antoine Semenyo (club hold one-year option)
Nahki Wells
Harvey Wiles-Richards
Zak Vyner (club hold one-year option)
Wow. Where to begin with all this? Of the 32 players at City who have either played first-team minutes or can be considered part of the squad, 18 are out of contract next summer (which could grow closer to 20 depending on what's been offered to King and Klose) and, you'd have to say, there's very few who you can say, at this moment in time, with absolute certainty will definitely be extended.
Starting with the obvious, City would clearly prefer to keep Han-Noah Massengo and Antoine Semenyo, and have offered them new deals to reflect that but with the former now entering the final 12 months of his agreement, if he doesn't sign it, offers will have to be considered. There is slightly greater security around Semenyo, given his option, but such has been his development, the offers may shortly be too much to even consider the possibility of him signing new terms.
The 2019/20 intake of signings are very much represented here with Tomas Kalas, Dan Bentley, Jay Dasilva, Nahki Wells and Kasey Palmer. The club would clearly like move Palmer on and despite Pearson's insistence of wanting to keep Wells, there isn't much point if he's just going to play so few minutes and walk on a free next summer - it just doesn't make sense economically, irrespective how good an option he is.
You'd think Dasilva's form over the second half of last season leans towards extending the 24-year-old for longer, with the left-back still pretty young in his career. As for Kalas and Bentley, you feel that decision will be made over the next few months depending on if there's any transfer interest in the duo. Clearly, though, the figures they signed for in 2019 won't be agreeable in 2022/23 as they approach their 30s.
2024
Rob Atkinson (club hold one-year option)
Sam Bell
Tommy Conway
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
Cam Pring and Duncan Idehen moved into this bracket after penning new deals this season, while there's every reason over the next year that Sam Bell, Ryley Towler and Tommy Conway move into more defined and regular first-team positions.
The options on Atkinson and Tanner are helpful, given the hopeful leap they should make next season, so by next summer we'll be talking about them as key players; and, to be honest, you could even start to talk that way about Atkinson anyway.
What influence Matty James and Andi Weimann will be having in 2023/24 is unclear but, certainly in the case of the latter, the decision to hand him a three-year deal was the only option the Robins had last summer, otherwise he'd have left the club, and where would all be now, had that transpired?
2025
- Ayman Benarous
- Alex Scott
- Mark Sykes (club hold one-year option)
This is a pleasing sight. City's best young player and their potential next major breakout star - albeit with Ayman Benarous' progression held back by the ACL injury sustained towards the end of last season - under contract deep into the decade.
If we're being honest with ourselves, it will be some surprise if Scott is still a City player in three years but having that contract protection is still important and, who knows, maybe he's given a new one over the next 6-12 months should he continue on the same trajectory.
Mark Sykes, meanwhile, will likely become the first of a number of new signings to move into this bracket following the Northern Irishman's arrival from Oxford United earlier this month.
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