Luke Ayling & Hayden Hackney react to big Bristol City, Sam Greenwood news | OneFootball

Sam Greenwood is back in the Championship, and his former teammates have reacted to the news

Sam Greenwood is back in the Championship after a year-long stint in Poland, as the former Leeds United man signed for Bristol City on Thursday.

The 24-year-old struggled in the Premier League with the Whites under Jesse Marsch, Javi Gracia and the short time Sam Allardyce spent at the helm, but even with a Championship return on the horizon back in 2023, new boss Daniel Farke immediately deemed him surplus to requirements.

Greenwood spent time on loan with Middlesbrough and Preston North End before leaving permanently for Pogon Szczecin last summer. One year later, he's back in the EFL, and permanently, too, agreeing a four-year deal with Bristol City, who have paid a reported £2 million for his services.

It's been difficult for the versatile attacking midfielder to settle, with him showing glimpses of quality over the last few years, especially from set pieces. His goal now will be to showcase that at a more regular rate, and some of his former teammates are hoping he can do just that.

How some of Sam Greenwood's former teammates have reacted to Bristol City move

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From the positive reaction of plenty of Greenwood's former teammates, it's clear that the 24-year-old is a likeable character, and he'll have a lot of people hoping that he can have a breakthrough campaign at Ashton Gate.

Former Leeds veterans, Liam Cooper and Luke Ayling, would likely have spent a lot of time mentoring the likes of Greenwood and his fellow under-21 stars at the time, such as Pascal Struijk, Joe Gelhardt and Crysencio Summerville, as they started to emerge as first-team players.

They both offered their messages of support to the new Robin on Greenwood's Instagram. Ayling, especially, who spent two years at Bristol City before his move to Leeds in 2016, helped them to the League One title in the 2014/15 campaign.

"Love it, mate. Amazing club and a great city. You will love it 🤍🤍," he said.

Cooper added, "Greenwood x Skubala link up. Congrats mate 💙," a nod to the new Bristol City boss, Michael Skubala, and the time he also spent with Leeds United from 2022 to his move to Lincoln City just over a year later.

Skubala's time at Elland Road was mainly spent as Under-21's manager, and while Greenwood was starting to make inroads into the first team at the time, he still made a handful of PL2 appearances under him during the 2022/23 campaign.

The 24-year-old came off the bench in all three games that Skubala spent as caretaker boss, too, following the sacking of Jesse Marsch in February 2023.

Moreover, Greenwood definitely made a positive impression on his teammates throughout the couple of loan spells in the Championship. His first was at Middlesbrough, and the reigning Championship Player of the Year, Hayden Hackney, also offered his support for the move.

"All best, Jonno ❤️," he said — a nickname that Greenwood has developed throughout his career.

Sam Greenwood will have some doubters ahead of Championship return

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Greenwood has been a solid attacking midfielder at Championship level during his two loan spells in the division, scoring five and assisting three in both campaigns with Boro and Preston.

He has the platform to succeed and better that at Ashton Gate, now he's another year into his career and is finally at a place he knows he could remain for the seasons to come. But, for £2 million, he'll have some convincing to do amongst the Robins fanbase.

"Very expensive, wouldn't have paid that much," one fan said when the reported fee was revealed. "If we paid more than £500,000 for him, we got robbed," another said when the signing was confirmed.

Only time will tell as to what impact Greenwood will have at Bristol City. The Robins will be looking for someone to shoulder the offensive load after they arguably didn't replace Anis Mehmeti in the January window, following his switch to Ipswich Town.

The 24-year-old has shown promise that he could be that man, and all eyes will be on whether he can take that next step at his new club.