Tommy Conway’s response to record Bristol City contract offer ahead of Middlesbrough switch revealed | OneFootball

Tommy Conway turned down a record contract offer at Bristol City in favour of a move to Middlesbrough.

Bristol City Technical Director Brian Tinnion has revealed that Tommy Conway "was not interested, not one iota" in the record contract offer for his age made to him at Ashton Gate ahead of his eventual move to Middlesbrough.

This news came out of the Robins' first fan forum of the season, with a number of other topics discussed including potential new investment and City's new recruitment methods.

Liam Manning's side are currently sitting 10th in the Championship table and will be eyeing up the play-off spots. At present, they are just three points behind Watford, and with a crucial fixture against Burnley on the horizon, they will be hoping to close the gap on the Hornets.

Despite a solid start to the campaign, the Robins have clearly felt the absence of Conway, who was a vital part of their attack with 24 goals over the past two seasons.

Departing for Middlesbrough in a reported £5 million transfer, Conway has made a strong start to the 2024-25 season, netting five goals in 11 Championship matches.

While the academy product's departure is a bitter pill for Bristol City fans to swallow, they can now acknowledge that the club and Tinnion did everything in their power to retain the Scottish international.

Tommy Conway contract details released by Brian Tinnion

While the Conway transfer saga was ultimately wrapped up in mid-August, it is still prominent in the minds of many Robins fans, who would have liked to see their local talent stay at Ashton Gate.

Tinnion was quizzed on the situation and revealed the striker's response to what was a record offer from the club to a player of his age.

He said: “When Tommy Conway has two years left on his contract and you start talking to Tommy saying, ‘we want to extend it’ and he’s got no interest in extending his contract, when it gets to a year left in his contract, you have to sell him.

“He’s old enough to make that decision, isn’t he? We offered him the highest pay, for his age, ever at the football club and he was not interested, not one iota. So, with a year left on his contract, we have to sell him.”

It was further suggested that Conway had a lack of belief in the project at BS3, and he saw far more opportunity at Michael Carrick's Boro. During this discussion, the Robins' Technical Director added that the 22-year-old was "getting bad advice."

While City fans argued that Conway wouldn’t get sufficient game time at Boro, with Emmanuel Latte Lath established as the first-choice striker at the Riverside, he has so far proved them wrong.

To date, he has started seven matches and, in recent weeks, has been preferred to his Ivorian counterpart.

Ultimately, he will expect time out of the team, but if he continues to average a goal every 127 minutes, Carrick will be hard-pushed to not start the Scotsman.

Speaking about his new head coach, the Taunton-born youngster is clearly full of admiration: "The manager and what he’s done with players before were big factors in me coming here. Me and Doakie are learning from him.

"He’s played at the highest level, won major trophies for Manchester United, so he knows what it takes. That’s only going to help me and Doakie for club and country."

Clearly, Carrick has already influenced the 22-year-old, and with a potential future in the Premier League, making the move from Ashton Gate seems like the correct decision.