Bristol City transfer notebook: Theo Bair rumours discussed, Niclas Eliasson a target for rivals

Bristol City would like to secure early business in the transfer window but as head coach Liam Manning admitted earlier this week, for all the groundwork being laid, they are to some extent at the mercy of the Premier League season which ends this weekend.

Barring any departures, the Robins would like to add a striker, playmaker and winger, following a Championship campaign in which they finished 11th with one of the league’s elite defences but an attack that struggled to score consistently and placed in the bottom half of the division.

There remain question marks over certain individuals within the squad, most notably Tommy Conway, but there is every reason, at this stage at least, to suggest it will be a relatively settled summer for the Robins.

The transfer window doesn’t officially open until June 14 but here is the latest news regarding the Robins and City-related items concerning their Championship rivals…

Bair necessities

Bristol City are unlikely to pursue a move for Motherwell striker Theo Bair this summer, Bristol Live understands, but the Canadian international has been watched by the Robins after an impressive second half of the season in the Scottish Premiership.

Bair was linked with a move worth up to £1.25million to Ashton Gate earlier this week via a Motherwell focused social media account, with City’s desire to sign a powerful and mobile No9 well known and the Robins having previously shopped in Scotland for Ross McCrorie.

The 24-year-old has scored 15 goals in 39 appearances for ‘Well, 11 of which have been struck in 2024 and his stock appears to be rising after what has been a career-best season for the Ottawa-born frontman.

However, while admired to an extent, Bair is not thought to be on the club’s summer shortlist as they look to bring in a forward of a different skillset to Tommy Conway and Nahki Wells who is of a suitable level so they can make a seamless transition to Championship football. After leaving Vancouver Whitecaps in 2021, Bair has played for HamKam in Norway, St Johnstone and Motherwell, with this season the first time he has hit double figures.

Eliasson becoming hot property

Former City winger Niclas Eliasson has emerged as a potential summer target for Norwich City, according to reports in Sweden, with his club AEK Athens on the cusp of lifting the Greek Super League title.

AEK Athens meet Olympiakos later today in their penultimate fixture of the season and with a one point lead over second-placed Panathinaikos, victory will push them ever closer to the championship.

Eliasson, who left the Robins for French club Nimes in 2020 has eight goals and nine assists in 34 games and FotbollDirekt claim PSV Eindhoven, Norwich City and Nantes are monitoring his situation with a bid of around €5m (£4.2m) likely to secure his services.

The 28-year-old, who scored five goals and added 18 assists in 83 Championship appearances for the Robins, is under contract until 2027 but is not among the club’s top earners.

Rosenior could make rapid Championship return

Less than a week after being sacked by Hull City, ex-City academy graduate Liam Rosenior has emerged as a candidate to take over at managerless Plymouth Argyle, report Plymouth Live.

Argyle have been without a full-time boss since sacking Ian Foster on April 1 in the wake of their 1-0 loss to the Robins, with six games of the 2023/24 season remaining, as director of football Neil Dewsnip and first team coach Kevin Nancekivell then steered them to safety to ensure Championship football for next season.

Rosenior’s fate at Hull was in-part sealed by a 1-0 defeat to the Pilgrims on the final day of the campaign as they missed out on a play-off berth which cost him his job.

However, Rosenior’s stock remains high and Plymouth Live state the 39-year-old “ticks a lot of the boxes in terms of the profile that Argyle would be looking for” along with former Chelsea coach Anthony Barry who is currently part of Thomas Tuchel’s staff at Bayern Munich and assistant to Roberto Martinez with the Portuguese national team.

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