Bristol City

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Bristol City summer signing Dom Ballard is "a special player" according to BBC Radio London's Leyton Orient commentator Dave Victor - but that does not mean he is a complete one yet.

Ballard joined the Robins on Tuesday after impressing at Leyton Orient in League One last season, scoring 23 times to be the league's top goalscorer.

"He's a player who is still learning the game," Victor said.

"He still makes mistakes. He's only 21 and I know that one of the things he has said he wants to do is [improve] his contribution off the ball.

"When he's one-on-one with the goalkeeper, you know it's going into the back of the net, but possibly his running off the ball is not the level that it will need to be in the Championship."

Listen to the full analysis below or on BBC Sounds here

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Bristol City head coach Michael Skubala joined BBC Radio Bristol's Ed Hadwin for the first episode of Sound of the City leading into the start of the new season.

You can watch the entire episode to hear what Skubala had to say above.

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Motherwell have signed Canada defender Jamie Knight-Lebel on loan from Bristol City.

The 21-year-old has spent the past two seasons on temporary deals with Crewe Alexandra and then Swindon Town.

"I want to welcome Jamie to the club," Motherwell boss Alfred Johansson said.

"He is a talented young player who has two very strong seasons out on loan playing regularly. A physical and strong defender, he will provide competition in the defensive positions and bring international experience.

"Bristol City rate him highly, and this loan move will provide him with the opportunity to play in a style suited to his game. We look forward to introducing Jamie to the squad, and I'm excited to be working with him."

Bristol City manager Michael Skubala says he was really pleased with the intensity in his side as they beat Newcastle 4-1 in a pre-season friendly.

The match was Skubala's first at Ashton Gate since he was appointed and was watched by a crowd of just over 21,500.

New signings Sam Greenwood and Lorent Tolaj both got on the scoresheet, before Max Bird made it 3-0.

Harvey Barnes pulled a goal back for the Premier League side but Sven Botman's own goal made it 4-1 at full-time.

On the aspects of his side he liked, Skubala said: "I thought the intensity in the team, the way we played fast and forward, the way that we got off the back of them, the way we looked a threat whenever we moved it through the structure and the patterns we wanted.

"I thought the transition moments were exciting, we looked like we could go and score in transition and there's stuff to work on still when we're a little bit lower and being a bit more solid.

"But saying that I thought the centre-halves tonight putting their bodies on the line blocking shots, blocking goals was exceptional.

"There's always things to improve on and doing it against a top opposition like that shows our weaknesses."

Bristol City, Stoke City, Sheffield United and Preston North End are battling for the signature of Ipswich Town right-back Harry Clarke, 25, with the Robins the most advanced in their pursuit of the Englishman. (Talksport), external

For more transfer news and rumours, read Thursday's full gossip column here.

David Pottier
Forever Bristol City Podcast

With less than a month to go until the start of the new season, Bristol City fans are again wondering if this is going to be our year for achieving promotion to England's top flight after an absence of 46 years.

There have been massive changes at the club over the past five months with a new CEO, the sacking of boss Gerhard Struber, Roy Hodgson's managerial swansong, the appointment of James Ellis as sporting director, the departure of playing legend Brian Tinnion as technical director and the arrival of Michael Skubala as manager.

Are fan expectations more elevated than they have been for a while as City approach their 12th successive Championship season? On balance I would say yes, even though the hierarchy at the club say this is the start of a three-year plan to achieve Premier League status.

My mildly positive view is based on the fact that City have done a lot of their transfer activity early rather than in the latter stages of the window.

First through the door was goalkeeper Sam Tickle from Wigan while former England Under-21 midfielder Sam Greenwood was signed for an undisclosed fee from Polish side Pogon Szczecin.

Dutch midfielder Gibson Yah might be seen as a bit of a punt with fewer than 100 appearances in his career but the same cannot be said of Jed Wallace, who has played around 400 Championship games. Released by West Brom, critics might say, at 32, his best days are behind him. That may be true but in my view he is a valuable addition to the squad.

The next signing which came totally out of the blue was defender Lisav Eissat from Israeli side Maccabi Haifa. He is a more than useful addition to a defence where Luke McNally's absence through an ACL injury is going beyond 18 months and Rob Atkinson's fitness is also open to question, the same being true for Rob Dickie.

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If you ask any City fan what the priority was this summer transfer window they would say up front. Giving Sam Bell a new three-year contract was expected given his decent showing through Hodgson's period in charge. Emil Riis managed nine Championship goals last season but that is nowhere near enough for a main striker.

The supporters can have no cause for complaint when you look at the club's efforts so far to address this issue. A substantial fee has been paid to Plymouth Argyle to bring in Swiss forward Lorent Tolaj. The 24-year-old found the net 17 times last season and looks a good signing.

At the same time, City have been trying to agree a deal with Leyton Orient for their striker Dom Ballard, who was League One's top scorer last season with 23 goals. If this doesn't happen, expect City to turn to Exeter's Jayden Wareham.

As things stand, with these summer additions City have moved into net spend territory, if you consider the January signings of Tomi Horvat and Noah Eile and add back the fees received for Zak Vyner and Anis Mehmeti, the Antoine Semenyo 'windfall' and the Sinclair Armstrong and Ross McCrorie money.

A further bonus could come the club's way if Alex Scott makes a summer move from Bournemouth. On this basis, if you take a cup half-empty view the club have not exactly been splashing the cash but what would make this a great summer window would be to get Max Bird and Jason Knight to agree new contracts and Scott Twine to sign an extension.

If this does not happen, then certainly Knight and Bird need to be sold now as their value will only tumble further by the time the January window opens before they walk for nothing next June. It would be interesting to see how much of their combined fees is reinvested.

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Bristol City's all-time appearance holder Louis Carey has been appointed head coach of their under-21 side.

Carey played 646 games for the Robins between 1995 and 2014, spending his entire career with his hometown club aside from a brief stint at Coventry.

Since retiring from playing, the 49-year-old has spent eight and a half years coaching at Southampton across their age grade teams and also had a spell working at Forest Green Rovers.

"We can only live in the present but we can plan for the future and, from what I have seen and the people I have spoken to, I believe there is a brilliant environment being built here, including the type of players we are signing and bringing through," Carey said.

Carey, who will join the club at the end of July, will be responsible for readying players in the academy for the first team, a role sporting director James Ellis described as "fundamental".

His arrival means Joe Morrell, who took on the role on an interim basis in the spring, has left the club.

Bristol City have had multiple bids for striker Dom Ballard rejected by Leyton Orient. The latest offer to be turned down is reported to be worth an initial £4m. (Alan Nixon - Patreon), external

You can find more of Monday's EFL gossip here.

Portsmouth have stepped up their interest in Plymouth Argyle's English forward Bim Pepple, 23, while the Pilgrims' Swiss striker Lorent Tolaj, 24, looks bound for Bristol City. (Darren Witcoop via X), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Friday's gossip column here.

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Bristol City boss Michael Skubala says he is expecting a new striker at the club within the week.

The Robins are looking to "ideally" bring in two extra forwards during the summer transfer window after the departure of Sinclair Armstrong to Turkish side Goztepe.

Only Birmingham City and Swansea [57] scored less goals than City [59] in the top 13 of the Championship last season.

The club have already brought in young prospect Billy O'Neill, while winger Yu Hirakawa has returned from a promotion-winning loan spell with Hull City.

"I think we are close and we are hopeful we will get that done in the next seven days, if not before," Skubala said.

"We have still got work to do in that top line to give us different profiles as we go into battle. We are really calm about what we've done so far, James [Ellis, the club's sporting director] and Charlie [Boss, the club's chief executive] have been really supportive in doing some business early."

Defender Luke McNally is back training with the squad but Skubala has confirmed "he's far off being seen in a Bristol City shirt".

The Irishman is making his way back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury that has kept him out of the game since February 2025.

Listen to the full interview with BBC Radio Bristol below or on BBC Sounds here

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Bristol City are targeting a move for Exeter City striker Jayden Wareham, 23, after the Englishman scored 19 goals for the Grecians in League One last season despite the club being relegated. (Alan Nixon - subscription required), external

For more transfer news and rumours, read Thursday's full gossip column here.

Sheffield Wednesday are targeting Bristol City goalkeeper Joe Lumley as a potential replacement for Manchester City-bound Pierce Charles. Lumley had a loan spell at Hillsborough last season. (The Wednesday Word), external

You can find more of Wednesday's EFL gossip here.