Bristol City: The perfect like-for-like Tommy Conway replacement is AC Milan starlet | OneFootball

Bristol City forward Tommy Conway has caught the eye with his positive performances this season, scoring six Championship goals in 24 appearances as well as two goals against West Ham in the FA Cup.

Conway started in both of the Robins' subsequent fourth round clashes with top-flight outfit Nottingham Forest, who only defeated Liam Manning's men in a penalty shootout following a replay.

City academy graduate Conway has been subject to transfer interest from the likes of Forest, Wolves, Brentford and Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers in recent months, according to Football Insider.

Conway has an obvious eye for goal at a young age, so it is no real surprise that both Premier League and Scottish Premiership outfits are keeping tabs on him, and that means the recruitment staff at Ashton Gate may be needing to look for an ideal replacement ahead of the summer.

FBref's statistics suggest that 20-year-old Italian striker Marco Nasti, who is on loan at second tier side Bari from Serie A giants AC Milan, boasts the most similar attributes and numbers to Conway.

Conway's record of six goals in 17 league starts and 26 appearances is very comparable to that of Nasti, who has returned four goals in 19 league starts and 24 appearances.

Neither forward has produced an assist in their respective leagues this season, while they have a very similar number of minutes under their belts, with Conway accumulating 1,532 minutes in the Championship this campaign, while 20-year-old Nasti has racked up 1,559 Serie B minutes.

The numbers also show that Nasti is arguably more dangerous in open play than Conway, as all four of his Serie B goals have been non-penalty goals, while only three of the Robins man's efforts have not been from the spot.

Conway boasts a higher expected goals (xG) ratio in the league than that of Nasti, with 5.7, but the Bari forward is outperforming his xG ratio of 3.1 to a greater extent than that of Conway.

Despite the fact that Conway has scored more league goals than that of his Serie B counterpart, some of Nasti's shooting statistics are better than those of the Robins forward.

For example, excluding penalty kicks, 39% of Nasti's shots this season have been on target, whereas just 36.4% of Conway's shots have been on target, so the Bari man has a slight edge here.

In addition to this, also excluding spot kicks, Nasti averages 0.92 shots on target per 90 minutes, which is greater than that of Conway's 0.70.

On the other hand, Conway's link-up play is arguably slightly better than that of the Bari forward, as the Robins man boasts a pass completion rate of 82.2%, which is slightly better than Nasti's 79.0%.

On the whole, these statistics show just how similar Nasti and Conway are to each other in terms of statistics, while interestingly, they are also close in age.

Nasti could be a realistic addition for Bristol City if Conway moves on

Despite having one year left on his current deal at Ashton Gate going into the summer, the amount of interest in Conway could mean that the striker will leave the West Country this summer, rather than in 2025.

If the academy product leaves his boyhood club, Manning will be in need of a replacement, and Nasti could be someone that fits the bill as he clearly possesses similar qualities to that of Conway.

Nasti's parent club, AC Milan, could be keen on the idea of their young player going overseas in order to help with his development, while he is unlikely to break into Stefano Pioli's first team squad as soon as next season, so it could be worthwhile for the Robins to take a punt and try and sign the 20-year-old on a loan deal.

The Robins could be an ideal destination for Nasti in the eventuality of a Conway-shaped hole, as the Ashton Gate outfit are a club who are strong at developing young talent, as demonstrated by the fact that academy graduates such as goalkeeper Max O'Leary and attacking midfielder Sam Bell are main-stays in Manning's starting 11.