Bristol City's chances of signing West Ham man could rely on "two major factors" | OneFootball

Bristol City could face a challenge in securing West Ham midfielder George Earthy on a permanent deal this summer, if they were to go back in for him.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Bristol City could face a challenge in securing West Ham midfielder George Earthy on a permanent deal this summer, if they were to go back in for him.

The 20-year-old impressed during his loan at Ashton Gate this past season - most notably in the second-half of the season when he played more, registering three goals in 37 Championship games for Liam Manning's side.

Questions are now emerging with his loan spell coming to an end - whether or not the Robins could secure his services on a permanent basis.

Huge Factors at play that impacts any potential George Earthy move for Bristol City

We spoke with our FLW Bristol City fan pundit, Tom Sandy - who believes that while Earthy would be a very welcome permanent addition, there are big obstacles that stand in the way of any deal coming to fruition.

Tom told FLW, "I think there’s two major factors, and that is firstly West-Ham and secondly just business in the summer window."

"First of all with West Ham - they probably won’t want to let him go, they sent him off to the Championship to give him experience after he’s had some time in the first team, and he seems like a player who could play for West Ham in the future. I think he needs another season in the Championship before he’s ready to tackle Premier League football.

"I can see another loan deal happening but he’s young, he’s bright and one of the best players that have come through West Ham’s academy in recent times so I’ll be surprised if they want to let him go already.

"Secondly, he will command a large fee and we’ve confirmed that we won’t change our transfer policy, we will look to sell first and sign with the money that we can so I don’t think we’ll have too much money in the summer - I think he’ll command a reasonable fee around £5m, just judging off previous deals, we sold Tommy Conway for £4.5m - George Earthy is probably around the same stature of talent."

Jason Knight departure could fund potential George Earthy move

According to Tom, any move for Earthy would hinge on transfer activity involving captain Jason Knight - who's been linked with a move to Everton, and former Robin Antoine Semenyo - with Manchester United interested.

"It must depend on whether we sell Jason Knight in the Summer, which is very likely and if Antoine Semenyo gets sold on how much he goes for and how much money we can get from that due to sell-on clauses," Tom told FLW.

"If he goes for £50m,£60m,£70m we’ll get a sizeable fee from that ourselves which will allow us to make moves.

"I think it massively depends on what happens around us, what West Ham decide and what we would want to do but i see no reason why Liam Manning wouldn’t want to bring George Earthy back to Ashton Gate. We will do whatever we can in our power to make that move happen."

Earthy did feature prominently for City in the remaining weeks of second-tier football, notably starting the playoff semi-final second-leg against Sheffield United. Of his 37 apperances though, only 11 have been from the start - 26 from the subs bench. If City were to go back in for him if Knight leaves, it can be hypothetically implied that he'd start a lot more second-time around.