Bristol City must not worry about Middlesbrough development following QPR arrival: View | OneFootball

Bristol City's Tommy Conway is receiving strong interest from Middlesbrough - but they've already signed Sinclair Armstrong

Bristol City appear poised to lose academy graduate Tommy Conway this summer as Championship rivals Middlesbrough continue to make significant advances - but they may not need to worry all that much.

Conway has enjoyed a stellar start to his senior career at Ashton Gate, scoring twelve goals apiece from all competitions in each of his two seasons as a fully-fledged first-team regular. He's been the Robins' top scorer in both of those seasons too, serving as yet another monumental success from the vaunted academy system which has cultivated the likes of Antoine Semenyo, Lloyd Kelly and Bobby Decordova-Reid alongside current first-teamers in Zak Vyner and Max O'Leary, too.

Of course, his status as an academy product therefore equates to full-profit for City, who are now set to part ways with the talented forward ahead of the looming 2024/25 campaign.

Tommy Conway set to leave Bristol City as Middlesbrough launch bid

Conway's current Robins deal is set to expire in under twelve months' time and he has promptly rejected fresh terms in BS3, despite the offer being labelled as "fantastic" by boss Liam Manning.

"I've had numerous chats with him last season going into his final year,"Manning told BBC Radio Bristol. "The club, for me, madea fantastic offer to him but it was turned down. It wasn't negotiated.

"Then he gave the indication he wants to move on, he doesn't want to re-sign and stay."

It's a sour set of circumstances for all involved and there will doubtlessly be a significant element of frustration in the red side of Bristol that the club will not be able to operate with a hard-ball stance when it comes to receiving offers, engaging in negotiations and setting their asking price. Naturally, clubs are often risk-adverse when interest is held in players who only have a year left on their contracts and are unwilling to broker a renewal and Middlesbrough are looking to leverage the situation.

As first revealed by The Northern Echo, Middlesbrough have entered talks with the frontman over a move to the Riverside Stadium, with Michael Carrick known to be keen to install additional depth behind last season's top scorer Emmanuel Latte-Lath.

BristolLive have now followed up Monday evening's initial update by reporting that the Robins have received a bid from Middlesbrough of up to £5m although the offer is said to include a number of future add-on incentives. It's reported that City would prefer much of the package to consist of upfront payments and this could see the saga persist for even longer if they really want the deal to work for them.

The report also adds that Burnley have displayed a "tentative interest" but the two clubs remain very far apart in their respective valuations.

Sinclair Armstrong can provide Tommy Conway replacement

Sinclair Armstrong, who arrived earlier this month from QPR for a reported £2.5m sum, always seemed a natural replacement for Conway given his age and profile.

Armstrong is more dynamic and effective at getting in behind defences than Conway but the two both frequently look to shoot across goal - even if his finishing is not as accomplished as the Scotland international's just yet.

That was the real division of opinion during his tenure at Loftus Road and exactly what the Robins faithful have been warned of following his arrival, but an impressive pre-season looks to be allaying those concerns in the build-up to what could be a significant breakthrough campaign for the 21-year-old.

He's already scored twice for Manning's men during their pre-season schedule and supporters will hope a marked improvement in his finishing can translate itself to the Championship, where Armstrong scored on just three occasions last term.

There will be an expectation, then, for him to prove some of his doubters in West London vastly wrong and show just what they missed out on. Indeed, that expectation will only elevate if and when Conway officially moves on to pastures new and it'll be down to Armstrong to match up to the pressure.

However, Manning could also find himself able to bolster the squad further when the Conway cash comes in and that should be a boost for supporters who realistically knew he was always going to leave this summer. At least, it would seem, they've already sourced a ready-made replacement,