“I thought he’d be going for £3m at most” – Bristol City lauded for Middlesbrough

Although Bristol City brought in a lot of players during the successful summer transfer window, our Robins fan pundit thinks that their biggest acquisition really came from a departure.

Tommy Conway ended his 15-year tenure at Bristol City by leaving Ashton Gate to join Championship rivals Middlesbrough for a reported £4.5 million. However, since the player’s contract was set to expire the following year and he made it clear he wouldn’t be signing a new one, the Robins were forced to cash in.

Although Liam Manning’s team would have preferred to keep the 21-year-old, he had been an outstanding performer in recent seasons. However, due to his contract situation, they were forced to sell him in order to prevent losing him for free next summer, which would have been disastrous.

Despite the additions they’ve made, our Bristol City fan pundit Tom Sandy thinks that selling Conway for a sizable money was their greatest summer business and that they weren’t prepared for Middlesbrough to pay them an estimated £4.5 million.

“I think the best bit of business our club did this summer was selling Tommy Conway to Middlesbrough,” Tom stated in an interview with Football League World.

To be fair, Conway was a player who had wanted to depart for a time. When Manning approached him at the start of the summer with a new deal, which reportedly came with a big price, he immediately turned it down.

“After that, he was no longer involved in the project; he never trained with the first team, he wasn’t on our squad roster, and he was no longer involved in the project.” With a year remaining on his contract, he could have chosen to play wherever he pleased, but we went out and secured Middlesbrough for £4.5 million in exchange for him.

“That was very unexpected of me. I had assumed that he would fetch at most £3 million, but as he is a striker and young, I understand that they are entitled to a greater transfer fee. However, his play last season wasn’t particularly impressive, and he didn’t put on many performances that would have earned that kind of money.

“I don’t believe Middlesbrough required an additional striker. He struggled when they played him as a ten on the weekend, but I’m amazed we received such a high price for him. In my opinion, that’s why it’s such a smart business move because it allowed us to add Scott Twine and Luke McNally, two additional players.

“It was a great deal for the club and Tommy, but as far as I know, no one came in for him. I suppose he had bigger aspirations because it was a bit of a sideways step compared to moving to the Premier League or one of the top clubs in Scotland.

Good luck to him if the player’s performance justifies the transfer fee; otherwise, we’ll have to wait and watch. Still, I believe it was a smart business decision to sell a player who wasn’t involved in our season-long effort for £4.5 million.

Bristol City wouldn’t have wanted to lose Conway, who is only 21 and was the team’s leading scorer the previous two seasons, but selling him was necessary from a financial standpoint as soon as he made it apparent that he wouldn’t sign a new contract.

The club’s board made a terrible decision if they had lost their most valuable player on a free transfer the next summer. Therefore, it is fortunate that they were able to pay £4.5 million for him, which they can now use to reinvest in the team.

Conway was replaced by players like Fally Mayulu and Sinclair Armstrong, which the Robins signed. If they had forced Conway to stay with the team against his will, they would have lost him for free the following summer and he might not have played as well since he would have been unhappy.

Conway should have signed a long-term contract at Ashton Gate and everyone could have moved on, but it was the right decision to sell him as soon as he made it clear that he wanted to leave, and the Robins’ management will be happy with the amount of money they received in exchange for the Scottish international.