"When you look who's out there and who's available, is it a massive upgrade on what we've got? There isn't in terms of that."

Those were the words of Bristol City head coach Liam Manning when discussing what the final few days of the winter transfer window could hold for the Robins, who are yet to make a single addition to their playing squad so far this month.

Supporters are understandably frustrated. The Reds are within touching distance of the top six and a shot at the promised land. If now's not the time to invest, when is? That isn't just the view of a journalist who wants something to write about in his first window covering the club, but rather a question being asked by fans all around the West Country.

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Time is running out for City to make a splash in the market and secure a new signing before Monday night's deadline. On the face of it, the task seems simple, but for a multitude of reasons it isn't that clear.

I've put together my thoughts on the challenges and tribulations, Manning, Brian Tinnion, Jon and Steve Lansdown face when adding to their ranks and why it is not as simple as splashing the cash.

"Absolutely no ambition"

It has been easy for fans to suggest Bristol City and Steve Lansdown should spend big this month as this is the best opportunity they have had in years to book their place in the play-offs, with just three points between the Robins and the top six ahead of Saturday lunchtime's clash with Oxford United. One supporter wrote on social media this week, "Genuinely what are we doing? Absolutely no ambition in this football club. We are three points off the play-offs."

However, the Reds have arguably only been able to get to that position because of the ambition their owner has shown in the last year to 18 months.

City paid a healthy compensation fee to bring Manning and his coaching staff to Ashton Gate and then backed him and the recruitment team well in the summer transfer window. Max Bird, Josh Stokes, Fally Mayulu, Yu Hirakawa, Sinclair Armstrong, George Earthy, Scott Twine and Luke McNally were all signed and some big transfer fees were paid for their services.

Have all those transfers worked out immediately? No, but spending your way out of trouble is unlikely to provide a quick fix. Five years ago, Lee Johnson's side signed Nahki Wells in the January window because they felt his goals would be enough to get them over the line in the play-off race following Benik Afobe's injury. While the Bermudian has since gone on to be an excellent servant, he only managed to score five goals in 17 appearances as the Reds drifted away from the top-six places that year.

Wells was in form ahead of the move, having found the net 15 times for QPR in the first half of the campaign, but it is not easy for a player to immediately hit the ground running in the middle of the season. Even if they were to fire Manning's side to promotion, what's to say they would be equipped to make the step up to the Premier League as well?

Throwing money at the problem dug the Robins a financial hole that Nigel Pearson and those around him spent almost three years digging them out of. While the pandemic played a part, it would be naive to end up back at step one again.

What about the loan market?

When discussing the final days of the window, Liam Manning did admit the loan market was a possibility before again caveating that with the fact that he wasn't expecting any business to be completed before Monday evening's deadline.

It has been easy for supporters to turn around and say: 'Go and get a young Premier League striker on loan for the rest of the season. It worked with Tammy Abraham.' Of course, that can work. Abraham basically kept Bristol City in the Championship in his sole season at Ashton Gate and that loan deal will have been worth every penny for the Robins.

But there is absolutely no guarantee that any loan signing the Reds make will do the same. You only have to look at the Robins' own history in recent years. Dire Mebude, Ryan Kent, Jonathan Leko, Cauley Woodrow, Lois Diony and even Filip Benkovic, at the other end of the pitch, all moved to the West Country on a temporary basis and failed to have any lasting impact.

Even if Manning and the recruitment team did find the next Abraham, the likelihood is that there will be very little for City to gain beyond the end of the season as his parent club will not be interested in sanctioning a permanent exit when the summer rolls around, not at the sort of price the Reds could afford anyway.

To top it off, loan deals for Premier League players can be incredibly expensive for Championship clubs as Nigel Pearson explained following his unsuccessful pursuit of now-Everton defender Jake O'Brien.

"There’s a centre-back we were linked with from Crystal Palace, who was over in Belgium," Pearson explained back in 2023. "From what he was earning from what Crystal Palace wanted, they wanted four times what he was earning to come here on loan. It’s not really player development, is it?

"On their part that is - we want to make some money on our player going out on loan. For me, that underlines why I don’t want to do that kind of business. I don’t want to do that type of business, that’s nonsense."

The final point on a potential loan player harks back to Manning's primary point of improving on what City have already got. What is the likelihood that a striker who isn't yet good enough for a Premier League loan but too good to play Premier League 2 football is going to be immediately better than Nahki Wells or that a centre-back in the same situation is going to being ready to displace Zak Vyner in a play-off push?

Dipping into the loan market can be an expensive gamble. If the Reds find a deal that they think has a good chance of coming good and is affordable, maybe they'll take that risk. If they get it wrong, however, it can be an expensive and needless money pit.

Money makes the world go around

So let's say Liam Manning, Brian Tinnion, Steve and Jon Lansdown decide to bet the farm on getting promoted this season and decide they're willing to pay whatever it costs to go out and get a proven and in-form striker before Monday's deadline.

Tom Cannon had a reasonable first half of the season on loan at Stoke City from Leicester City, scoring nine goals in 22 league games, the same amount as Anis Mehmeti so far this term. To bring him to Bramall Lane permanently this month, Sheffield United have paid a fee reportedly around £10million.

Emmanuel Latte Lath currently sits third in the league's scoring charts with 11 in 29 appearances this term, four more than Wells has managed so he would represent a definite upgrade for the Robins. However, he is set to join MLS side Atlanta United in a deal worth upwards of £20million.

It has to be remembered that Tommy Conway, who was in the last year of his contract and had only scored 10 league goals the season prior, joined Middlesbrough in a deal that Bristol Live understands to be worth £5million.

Championship strikers don't come cheap and the Reds' business this summer shows that they are not equipped to buy the finished article. They have to be creative and take gambles on prospects such as Fally Mayulu and Sinclair Armstrong.

Of course, some will point further down the pyramid and suggest the Robins could look to bring in a forward banging them in at League One level. Not only do you then run the risk of the player not being able to make the step up, but activity so far this window suggests those sorts of deals can be just as expensive.

According to Sky Sports, Luton Town have submitted a bid worth £7million, plus add-ons, for Wycombe Wanderers forward Richard Kone. The 21-year-old has scored 16 goals already this term but has never played above League One level and there is no guarantee his recent form will continue in the second tier.

City know that themselves. Kieran Agard scored 14 goals as Steve Cotterill's side romped to the League One title in the 2014/15 season and only found the net on three occasions in the Championship a year later. It was a big step up then and you can argue the gap has only got bigger since.

Teams don't want to lose arguably their most important players halfway through a season and therefore their asking prices are driven up and only get higher as the deadline gets closer. It is unrealistic to expect Manning's team to fork out that sort of fee at this stage, especially after an expensive summer and that's without even delving into the intricacies of financial fair play.

Is the squad actually any weaker?

Some Bristol City fans have suggested the Reds' business this month has left Liam Manning with a weaker squad than he had at the beginning of 2025.

Yes, it is an interesting approach to take sanctioning loan exits for three first-team players and potentially not signing a single replacement, but none of Kal Naismith, Rob Atkinson or Fally Mayulu have exactly had a major impact in the first two-thirds of the campaign.

Mayulu is not yet ready to lead the line at Championship level, Naismith has struggled for form and fitness throughout his time at Ashton Gate and Atkinson needed regular minutes, which he was never going to get in BS3, to be able to hit the ground running at the start of next season.

All three players, at this moment in time, are clearly not integral to Manning's side. Yes, an injury or two could change things but when you start building a squad on the basis that you need to be ready for five or six long-term injuries, you risk entering 'clubs in the bag' territory.

I'm sure Manning would have liked to replace the three outgoing players, but the City boss himself admitted this week that he knew the squad was a bit bloated heading into the new season. The outgoing business so far this month has likely just moved the Reds back within their financial expectations rather than clearing a massive space on the bill.

Finally, it has to be remembered that both Atkinson and Mayulu are set to return to Ashton Gate at the end of the season. Neither of their loan agreements are understood to include an option to buy and therefore, it would be naive of the Robins to replace them before they have even departed permanently.

Of course, there's no fun in that though. Let's hope this article will be redundant by the time 11pm rolls around on Monday.

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