Tammy Abraham was a huge success story at Bristol City last season, in fact had it not been for the Chelsea forwards goals the Robins could well have dropped out of the Championship?
Will such success on a temporary basis lead to further loan arrivals from Premier League clubs this season? Lee Johnson, who had admitted he’s looking to bring in a couple of players whilst refusing to rule out sales, isn’t sure.
He revealed some ‘very, very good’ players have been offered to the Robins on loan but they have to be right for the club.
Johnson told the Bristol Post: ‘We worked that [the loan market] very well last year with Tammy Abraham coming in. We have been offered some very, very good players by two or three top Premier League clubs but it has to be right – it has to be right for us and for the club and for the player as well. Because if they’re not getting the game time then it’s probably pointless. Of course last year with Tammy we were able to bring him in because if it had been a draft he’d have been the number 1 pick at the draft. We got ourselves in a good position, brought him in and the rest is history.’
Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Fans’ Player of the Year, coupled with his 26 goals for Bristol City in all competitions, speaks for itself as to the success of Abraham’s spell at Ashton Gate.
If Johnson could recreate that, albeit with a player who wouldn’t ever have a long-term future at Bristol City, always the downside to any loan, you couldn’t say no but it doesn’t look too likely this summer.
A potential loan arrival(s) look to be on hold until January as far as the boss is concerned.
He added: ‘Like I say, we’ve got to get it right and it may be that this year we don’t take anybody from a Premier League club and it may be that we do that in January.’
