Bristol City re-igniting interest in Reading FC man this summer would be smart business: View | OneFootball

Harvey Knibbs has been a wanted man for quite a while now, with a number of clubs in both League One and the Championship said to be looking at the Reading striker.

Journalist Pete O’Rourke stated that Knibbs’ was being hotly monitored during the January transfer window, with Plymouth Argyle one of the clubs to be rebuffed with their advances in signing the 24-year-old last month.

The same source had already linked Bristol City with a move for him last summer as he left Cambridge United, with the striker eventually making the decision to move to the Royals after their relegation to the third tier.

Nine months on, it looks like an opportunity lost for the Robins, with the ex-Aston Villa youth product finding his feet in front of goal amid a relegation fight in League One, but a summer swoop in 2024 isn’t out of the question with Knibbs proving he could make the step-up to the Championship.

Harvey Knibbs transfer latest

After a slow start to the season which saw him net just once in his first 13 games in all competitions, the former Cambridge man has caught fire since a hat-trick in a 5-0 Bristol Street Motors Trophy victory over Swindon Town in October.

13 goals in all competitions for a Royals side depleted by all sorts of financial worries has left Knibbs a wanted man heading into the summer, with Tuesday night’s strike against relegation rivals Port Vale the latest in a series of crucial goals to help his side avoid the drop into the fourth tier.

Despite the Berkshire-based side’s well-known financial issues, they tied Knibbs down to a three-year deal last year to keep him at the Madejski Stadium until the summer of 2026, as he completed the move to the former Premier League side alongside Cambridge teammate Sam Smith.

Two separate points deductions have seen the Royals have four points taken from their total so far this campaign; leaving them six points ahead of the drop zone after a recent resurgence.

Knibbs has been influential in a run of just one defeat in Reading’s last eight league games, and with funds at a premium for his current side, he could be available for a cut-price fee when the season ends.

Bristol City's need Knibbs to sharpen up blunt attack

A man who can find the net as regularly as Knibbs is a valuable asset in any side, but he could prove the difference between mid-table mediocrity and a playoff push for the Robins.

No team in the top half of the table has scored fewer than Bristol City this season, with just 38 goals scored in their 33 league games so far this campaign.

Tommy Conway’s eight goals are a club-high in 2023/24 with Jason Knight chipping in with six, while Mark Sykes and Sam Bell have netted five goals apiece.

With Andi Weimann shipped out to West Bromwich Albion and set to be on his way out of the club in the summer, City are calling out for a striker to put the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis in the next campaign.

Knibbs is someone who knows where the goal is; no one has a higher shot on target percentage than him this season, with 61.3% of his efforts on goal testing the goalkeeper in the league, as per FBRef.

Only Bristol Rovers’ Chris Martin and Wigan Athletic’s Charlie Wyke top him when it comes to goals per 90, with 0.34 and 0.33 respectively compared to Knibbs’ 0.26 - but with plenty more minutes in the tank this year, that return is certainly admirable.

With the added weight of a club’s survival on his shoulders, the maturing striker has dealt with the pressure remarkably well, and, it has proved he has all the trademarks of a Championship striker in the making.