Bristol City backed to outbattle Blackburn Rovers for £5m-rated Barnsley player despite significant "worry" | OneFootball

FLW’s Bristol City fan pundit has commented on links to inform winger Reyes Cleary.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Bristol City are still in the hunt for promotion to the Premier League with 17 games remaining of the campaign, and with not long left of the transfer window, there's somewhat of a demand for the club's ownership to re-invest some of the money banked in January.

The Robins had been through a sticky patch in the second-tier by failing to secure a victory in their past three Championship outings, but returned to winning ways last weekend when they dispatched League One-bound Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 at Ashton Gate.

That important result lifts the Robins to seventh in the standings and just a point off a place inside the top six, with Wrexham their nearest rivals to a play-off spot.

Gerhard Struber’s men have a tasty next couple of fixtures against fellow promotion rivals too, firstly hosting Derby County this coming Friday evening, while they then travel to East Yorkshire to face Hull City, so positive results in those games could see them reclaim a space inside the top six at the beginning of February.

Meanwhile, the January transfer window is another pivotal period to bolster the ranks and add quality into much-needed areas to help sustain a promotion bid.

So far, the Robins have acquired two players, with Sam Morsy and George Earthy coming into the club, offering a blend of youth and experience, so the club has the characters to stay towards the top end of the table, while having the freshness of legs to help combat the relentless nature of Championship scheduling.

Now, Bristol City have been touted with adding to their winger department, with Reyes Cleary linked with a move to the second-tier after catching the eye in the first half of this campaign with third-tier outfit Barnsley.

The former West Brom man has been lighting it up in League One, netting five goals and registering seven assists, while he got the country talking following a stellar display in the Tykes’ third-round FA Cup defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, causing constant problems for defender Jeremie Frimpong.

And as per journalist Alan Nixon, the Robins are in the race to secure Cleary’s signature, but face competition from Blackburn Rovers, while Barnsley have set a £5m valuation on their star winger as the February 2 deadline ticks closer.

Cleary would obviously be an attractive player to sign to replace the departure of Anis Mehmeti, with the club needing to restock ammunition in the final third after losing such a valuable first-team asset, and they should have money to spend, with the fee from Ipswich Town added to the sell-on clause received for Antoine Semenyo's move to Man City.

Potential Reyes Cleary move questioned due to Bristol City system

Speaking to Football League World, Bristol City fan pundit Tom Sandy believes Reyes Cleary’s rapid rise in the game has been down to him playing in his natural position as a winger, and has questioned whether he would get the game-time he craves in a Robins shirt given Gerhard Struber’s system doesn’t utilise that position.

Tom told FLW: “With five goals and seven assists this season, he’s (Cleary) been lighting it up, and he was man of the match against Liverpool. That shows you his qualities. He’s a fantastic player.

“Barnsley want around £5 million for him. If the rumours are to be true, we’re in a bit of a bidding war for him. I believe Blackburn Rovers are in for him, but I’m not sure of the other teams.

“He’s obviously a brilliant player and I think £5 million is probably going to be around the fee they would be expecting for him. They need to make the most of this move because he’s a brilliant player.

“However, I believe part of the reason for this is that he’s being played in his natural position, a winger, which he wasn’t doing at Walsall last year, which is why he hardly got into the side, due to the fact Walsall play wing-backs in a very similar way to what we do, so I’m rather sceptical about this move due to the fact that I haven’t been able to see him play in our system and how we’ve managed wingers in the past like Yu Hirakawa, who has just gone out on loan to Hull.

“If he’s a similar profile to that, because I haven’t been watching Barnsley every week, but judging off what their fans have said, he’s a fantastic player, but he needs to be playing in his position on the wing, and we don’t play with wingers at the moment.

"So, it does worry me a little bit for us to put all our eggs in one basket to find a player who doesn’t fit our system, when we’ve just loaned out a player who plays the exact same way, because he wasn’t getting enough game-time because he doesn’t fit the system.

“It seems like interesting business to me. However, he is a fantastic player, only 21, a bright future ahead of him and I have no doubt, even if he didn’t break into our squad and have the impact we would want him to have because of the large fee and the fact we just lost Anis Mehmeti,

"I’m sure we’d be able to recoup a lot of that because he has fantastic potential, and he’s a brilliant player, not only on the ball, but he’s a very physical player too, and it’s not going to depart him.

“I think it’d be a great move - one I’m a bit sceptical about, but I have no doubt that he’s a bright talent and will set the Championship alight if given the opportunity this season.”

Reyes Cleary is having an outstanding season in League One, and it’s no surprise to see him already being linked with making a step-up to the Championship.

It’s also in line with his own personal ambitions, with there little incentive to remain at Oakwell given Barnsley are dropping closer to the relegation mire rather than competing for a place back in the second-tier.

However, regardless of his impressive form, £5m is a hefty amount to spend for any Championship club, and you have to feel the Robins would be making a mistake given their current system doesn’t fit Cleary’s attributes.

Struber’s three-back setup has an emphasis on wing-backs, and it’s clear to see that Cleary is at his best purely in an attacking sense, rather than helping out with defensive duties.

Like our Bristol City fan pundit, Tom, alluded to, this was a similar problem for Cleary at Walsall, where he barely got a kick in that loan spell during the first half of last season, simply because he wasn’t played in his preferred position.

And the same could happen at Ashton Gate if this move materialises, proving to be such a waste of precious resources that could be better spent on players who can slot into Struber’s system with ease and make an instant impact.

Therefore, Bristol City should perhaps cool their interest, with this deal seemingly not benefiting any party both on and off the pitch - unless Struber was willing to change the way he sets up his team.