City line up ‘keeper as Bentley looks set to leave

BRISTOL City are weighing up a move for Nikita Haikin as they step up their search for Dan Bentley’s replacement.

The Robins captain looks poised to join Wolves for a nominal fee after entering the final six months of his contract in BS3. Bentley underwent his medical with the Premier League side yesterday and confirmation of his departure looked likely to be made either last night or today.

Following Stefan Bajic’s loan deal to Valenciennes, Nigel Pearson said City would only sanction Bentley’s transfer if they had a replacement lined up with Max O’Leary potentially left as the only senior keeper in the squad.

Haikin, 27, has been without a club since November when he left Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt. They ended the Eliteserien in second, with Haikin featuring in 27 of their 30 matches. He has also played in their Europa League campaigns where they shocked Roma and Celtic last season and lost to Arsenal on two occasions in October.

First reported by Norwegian outlet Nettavisen, journalist Stian Wahl wrote Haikin has “received an offer from Bristol City. If the final details fall into place and the parties reach full agreement, he will sign for the Championship club.” Our sister website Bristol Live understands that Haikin remains an option.

Haikin was born in Israel to Russian parents but holds a British passport. He was part of the Dynamo Moscow youth team before having stints in the academies of Chelsea, Portsmouth and Reading while his progress was hampered by visa issues. He then moved to Portuguese side Nacional and then Marbella before returning to Russia to play for Mordovia Saransk. Moves to FC Kuban, Bnei Yehuda and Hapoel Kfar Saba would follow in Israel before spending three years with Bodo/Glimt where he won the league title on two occasions.

He has also featured for Russia’s youth sides from Under-16 to U21 level and has been named on the bench for the senior national set-up. Any potential deal is likely to be on a short-term contract until the end of the season, similar to Timm Klose’s arrival 12 months ago, when the club can reassess their goalkeeping department.

■ Former Wales, Real Madrid and Tottenham star Gareth Bale, who retired earlier this month, will take part in the upcoming AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf event. Bale, 33, will join several other celebrities competing at the famous Californian links alongside some of the world’s top professionals.