Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson has confirmed that there is a need to let a few players out on either permanent deal or loans, but he’s under no pressure to sell our best players.
Speaking to the Bristol Post as he met with the media this week, Johnson confirmed that he remained active in the January transfer market and he did have hopes of strengthening, but especially if that happened he would have to let one or two go, however that doesn’t apply to our best players ‘who are playing’.
‘You never know. I think we’ve set our stall out this season to retain our best players and I think that will continue. Steve Lansdown has been very strong from the top with that message and that’s great for stability and clarity. There does need to be outgoings, whether it’s young players or getting out on loan. We need to make sure we don’t want to baulk out the squad too much.’
Johnson went on to say that the driver behind that isn’t strictly financial though.
‘It’s not a financial thing. It’s more of a pathway thing. We need to make sure that we’re educating our players at a lower level in the lower leagues. Zak Vyner’s an example – we’ve had a lot of interest in Zak. We’ll have to make a decision in the next 48 hours if we want to get him some games. And naturally, as a byproduct, there’s an evolution to the squad and some players will move on. But certainly the ones who are playing we want to retain. And it looks like we’re going to at this stage but it’s a crazy window so we’ll see.’
With sales in previous years, Johnson went on to say that he didn’t feel we were a ‘selling club’ but of course every player has their price and he referenced the deal with Aston Villa for Jonathan Kodjia.
‘I think the bigger picture is the brand that is Bristol City. This club isn’t a selling club, necessarily. We’ll sell players at the right time if we feel it’s right to kick the club on. You saw that with Jonathan Kodjia, which I thought was a very good price to get for him. That money’s allowed us to buy a team and the infrastructure behind that, such as the training ground hopefully, the young players coming through and the coaches we’ve brought in. It’s all about getting it right for the football club. We’ll give everything to keep doing the things that are right for the football club as a whole.’
