Palmer back with City after loan spell at Swansea
BRISTOL City have bolstered their midfield ranks with the addition of Kasey Palmer, who had been on loan at Swansea City.
The 24-year-old left for the Liberty Stadium in the summer for more first-team opportunities, with head coach Dean Holden explaining the the Robins had too many players in the central areas and several were likely to head elsewhere to play more.
But those halcyon days are long gone, with a nightmare injury list ever growing and robbing the Robins of the services of Liam Walsh, Joe Williams, Andi Weimann, Jamie Paterson, Callum O’Dowda and even Chris Brunt, with the veteran midfielder released on Sunday following a bad calf injury.
City have seen Tyreeq Bakinson breakthrough this campaign, and Adam Nagy and Han-Noah Massengo have come to the fore of late. But Palmer will give City another body in there and someone whose creative attributes - being able to dribble in midfield and play throughballs - have been sorely missing at times. He was recalled last Friday but under the terms of his agreement came back to BS3 yesterday.
Along with James Morton from Grimsby Town and Cameron Pring from Portsmouth, who is due to get game-time with Jay Dasilva set for an extended time on the sidelines due to surgery to cure a shin problem, the Robins have added to their playing resources for the rest of the campaign.
Palmer started twice in the Championship for Steve Cooper’s side, though he did come off the bench 10 times for the Swans, helping the Welsh side to second in the league.
Cooper has been a long-term fan and Swansea City tried to recruit Palmer ahead of Bristol City in the 2019 summer transfer window, eventually getting their man a year later.But with the return of attacking midfielder Morgan GibbsWhite from a bad foot injury, and with the need to send a loan back to a parent club to facilitate the recruitment of a striker (with Southampton’s Michael Obafemi likely to arrive there on loan this week), Palmer has returned to Ashton Gate.
The Bristol Post recently reported that City had been mulling over bringing Palmer back for several weeks, and given the paucity of central midfield options and the need for more creativity in the middle of the pitch, it all makes sense.
The former Chelsea man is expected to be in the squad to face Portsmouth in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.
Meanwhile, City’s Championship fixture at Norwich City has
been selected for live broadcast by Sky Sports.
The fixture at Carrow Road will now be played on the original date
of Wednesday, January 20 – having been recently brought forward to Tuesday, January 19 – and will kick off at 6pm.
As the game is away and live on Sky Sports, the club will be unable to stream the match on Robins TV due to EFL regulations.