Bristol City plotting transfer raid for 30-cap international defender | OneFootball

The defender was a key player for Struber in his previous managerial role.

Bristol City are interested in signing Kosovan left-back Leart Paqarada from FC Koln.

Gerhard Struber's notoriously fun and attacking brand of football doesn't necessarily fit with the squad that he has inherited from Liam Manning, and, as such, him and the recruitment team are getting to work on addressing any issues within the Robins' squad.

One of the points that they are currently looking at is the left side of the defence. According to German outlet Kicker, Struber is looking to use his knowledge of the country's various divisions to strengthen this position.

Paqarada is the player that Kicker has reported that City are interested in. The 30-year-old Koln defender was a standout for them in the previous term, helping them to win promotion back to the Bundesliga.

In 31 league appearances for the club last time out, Paqarada provided six assists and created a mammoth 16 big chances, according to Sofascore. The Robins' new Austrian head coach led Koln and Paqarada throughout their respectively brilliant 2024/25 campaigns.

Bristol City interested in reuniting Gerhard Struber with star defender

With just less than a year left on his current deal, the Kosovo international leaving the North Rhine-Westphalia side is on the cards, as per the German reports.

Transfers of this nature are only natural for someone like Struber, who, even though he does have prior experience of managing in this country, and this division, with Barnsley, will want to add players that he knows to his new cast.

Left-back wasn't an area of major strength for the Robins last time out. They finished in the top six of the Championship for the first time since their return to the second tier in 2015, but, in the first leg of their semi-final with Sheffield United, they had to use Ross McCrorie as a makeshift left wing-back.

Cameron Pring, who is more naturally suited to this role, was an unused substitute in that contest, and was then stuck on the left of a back-three for the second leg - he is now injured for the first few months of the season, so strengthening will be required in that area of the pitch.

None of McCrorie, Pring or Haydon Roberts, who took the Scotsman's spot for the game at Bramall Lane, offer the same sort of attacking threat that Paqarada displayed last season.

Leart Paqarada is the archetypal Gerhard Struber signing

The Kosovan logged 10 assists in the Bundesliga 2 for St Pauli in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons.

He is a player that will add a new layer of attacking threat to the Robins, one that, despite their overall league success, they missed from the options that they had in his position.

City haven't been overly bold with any of their four additions so far this summer.