Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Ashton working hard to secure trio permanently
BRISTOL City CEO Mark Ashton looks to be a busy man at the moment. According to the latest reports, the Robins official is conducting transfer discussions with Chelsea.
City are apparently in talks to sign defender Tomas Kalas on a longterm permanent deal.
Reports suggest the Robins are, in fact, looking to tie up all three of their Blues loanees, and hope that Kalas, Kasey Palmer and Jay Dasilva can all be snapped up soon.
By getting those three signed up early, Ashton and City could set themselves up for a great summer of transfer business.
The CEO will join Steve Lansdown today to speak to Robins supporters in the club’s latest fans forum, and if those trio of deals can be tied up then it could have the knock-on effect of convincing the likes of Callum O’Dowda and Josh Brownhill to remain in BS3 this summer.
The report explains that the Blues are keen to reduce the numbers in their infamous ‘loan army’ with FIFA set to tighten up the rules on the stockpiling of players.
A looming transfer ban – if the club’s appeal is not successful – will also add pressure to trade players in the coming months, and the Robins may be able to take advantage.
Kalas has previously said he was open-minded about what the future holds. Earlier this season he said: “Obviously I wish that I could find a club to settle down at for a long time, but I don’t really mind going on loans. Some people might hate me for that – not being in a certain place for longer than two seasons, but because I adapt quite quickly and I’m easy going, any team, and because I’m not big-headed or arrogant or stuff like that, even though I’m changing teams I feel like I’m at home at every team I come to. So that’s not really a problem.”
After three consecutive defeats – two in the Championship – City must return to form quickly and today they make the trip to fellow play-off hopefuls Preston North End.