Sold for £0: Bristol City got nothing back after £7m agreement: View | OneFootball

The 24/25 campaign will be Bristol City’s tenth in a row in the Championship, with some fans growing increasingly frustrated at the club’s failure to kick-on in that decade.

In fairness to the supporters, you can understand why. In that period, they’ve only finished in the top ten once, when Lee Johnson’s side failed to last the pace despite a promising start in the 2018/19 season.

Of course, no club has a divine right to expect promotion, or even a play-off push, and Bristol City’s reality right now is that they can’t compete financially with some of their rivals at this level.

But, whilst they’ve never been big hitters by Championship standards, money has been spent over the years. Unfortunately, it hasn’t always worked out though, with Han-Noah Massengo the most obvious example of their poor spending.

Han-Noah Massengo’s time at Bristol City

The Robins reached an €8m (£7m) agreement to sign the then 18-year-old midfielder from Monaco in 2019, in a deal that looked like a real statement of intent.

This was a player who had been involved in the Monaco first-team, and he had represented France at various youth levels.

With his technical ability on the ball, it was hoped that he could bring more quality and composure to the middle of the park, and that he would blossom into a top player that could be sold on for a big profit down the line.

As it transpires, that didn’t happen.

Massengo would make over 100 appearances for Bristol City, and he did show flashes of his undoubted ability. But, as you would expect for someone so young, he lacked consistency, and it also took him time to adapt to the physical demands of the Championship.

In the end, he would leave Ashton Gate on a free transfer, with the player linking up with Burnley in the summer, highlighting the potential that some believe he still has, although he has failed to get game time with the Premier League side this season.

For Bristol City, the Massengo deal was viewed as an investment. This was someone who should be able to contribute in the short-term, but, crucially, with the hope that his value would increase down the line.

Then, as Brighton have shown, you cash in at the right time, make a profit, and reinvest that in the squad. That would’ve been the plan for the hierarchy at Ashton Gate, and it’s how most clubs at this level have to operate.

Simply put, the owner can’t keep funding the losses that the club makes. They have to sell to buy to improve the squad, and Massengo was a risk that backfired spectacularly for the club.

Pleasingly, it hasn’t all been bad news for Bristol City when it comes to player development.

Alex Scott was an obvious success story, having come through the ranks to impress in the first-team, with Bournemouth paying over £20m to sign him last summer. That deal meant the club were in a position to bring in the likes of Ross McCrorie, Jason Knight and Taylor Gardner-Hickman, who are all players entering their peak years.

Notably, even though they’re following a similar model of targeting young, hungry players, Bristol City aren’t splashing out £7m on any individuals, indicating they’ve learned from the past.

Pleasingly, the club continues to produce talent, with Sam Bell and Tommy Conway two highly-rated youngsters who are making their mark in the Championship.

It may have been a slow, painful process, with mistakes like Massengo on the way, but Bristol City now seem to be in a better position as they look to back Liam Manning where possible to finally kick-on and properly challenge for the play-offs in the years to come.