Bristol City transfers live: Ross McCrorie signs, Haydon Roberts updates, Championship latest

Hello and welcome to Wednesday's live blog as, in the blink of an eye (relatively speaking), Bristol City have two new players in the form of Rob Dickie and Ross McCrorie.

The latter was confirmed as a Robin last night, also on a three-year contract with the option of a further 12 months, and that duo should be followed by out-of-contract Brighton & Hove Albion defender Haydon Roberts.

After making an initial splash, City are also working on other targets - Joe Bryan is no longer one of them - and the speculation around Alex Scott is unlikely to go away anytime soon.

We'll be bringing you all the Robins-related news throughout the day, plus anything else of interest in the Championship so keep an eye on below for updates

Ross McCrorie's first day

Another cracking video by the media team as they take you behind the scenes at the HPC and Ashton Gate as Ross McCrorie becomes a City player.

Featuring cameos, amongst others, from Rob Atkinson - undergoing treatment - Phil Alexander, Nigel Pearson and, of course, Scott Murray.

Completed Championship deals

City are leading the way so far in the division with only six deals concluded into Championship clubs.

Blackburn

Niall Ennis (Plymouth, free)

Bristol City

Rob Dickie (QPR, undisclosed)

Ross McCrorie (Aberdeen, undisclosed)

Coventry City

Jay Dasilva (Bristol City, free)

Middlesbrough

Terrell Agyemang (Man City, free)

QPR

Taylor Richards (Brighton, free)

Sheffield United release Billy Sharp

The Blades have following promotion to the Premier League with a couple of established names leaving the club.

Released

• Jack O'Connell
• Billy Sharp
• Enda Stevens
• Kyron Gordon

Contract offers made

• Zak Brunt
• John Fleck
• Ben Osborn
• Jack Robinson

Aden Flint wants Wednesday return

Not the most earth-shattering piece of transfer news you'll hear all summer but Aden Flint has declared he'd like to return to Sheffield Wednesday having been released by Stoke City.

The former Robins centre-back was on loan at Hillsborough over the second half of the season had played an important role in their play-off success.

It’s a great group of lads, great staff with a great manager. The fans are unbelievable. I’d love to come back, of course I would, but we’ll see what happens.

Pearson on City's early business

Speaking to Robins TV, the City manager discussed getting two new players early in the window.

It was always our intention to try to do some business as soon as we could, because it gives us the opportunity to really shape the squad in a way that we want to.

I think it gives people confidence. I think it gives the players who are already in the building a bit of a shot in the arm to see that we are trying to strengthen the squad. I think it will give our fanbase encouragement, hopefully, that we are trying to add the right players to our squad.

They’re both good ages (Rob Dickie and Ross McCrorie) and they're both players who have done extremely well so far in their careers but have the scope to improve and push on themselves.

Birmingham set for Bellingham payday

As you may well have already seen, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid have agreed a fee of more than £86m for Jude Bellingham to move to the Bernabeu.

Having sold him to Dortmund in 2020 for £25m that will net Birmingham a percentage of the profits. BirminghamLive estimate Blues' sell-on is between 5-15 per cent which could mean anything between £3m and £9m will come their way this summer.

City have been hopeful of similar-type payments for Adam Webster, Lloyd Kelly and possibly Josh Brownhill having sold them during the 2019/20 season with 20 per cent resale clauses inserted.

But they remain at Bournemouth, Brighton and Burnley for now, although there are continued murmurings that Eddie Howe could take Kelly to Newcastle this summer, which is one to keep an eye on from a Robins perspective.

SkyBet extend EFL sponsorship

Confirmation over lunchtime that SkyBet will continue to sponsor the Championship, League One and League Two having signed a new deal with the EFL the end of the 2028/29 campaign.

The EFL note that the new agreement will provide "significant revenues for EFL clubs and support for the league’s overriding objective to make clubs financially sustainable across all divisions."

It comes just a few months after Premier League clubs agreed to remove front-of-shirt gambling sponsors from the 2026/27 season onwards, although the EFL have detailed various stipulations around the agreement:

• Sky Bet will not actively market themselves or their products in family areas of Club stadiums or advertise to young fans.
• The EFL will dedicate a proportion of its central inventory to promote safer gambling messaging and support Sky Bet’s safer gambling campaigns.
• Sky Bet will fund a player education programme across the EFL’s 72 Clubs that will focus on the potential dangers of gambling and provide support and advice.

Liverpool signing Alexis Mac Allister

The Argentina World Cup winner's move from Brighton to Liverpool looks to be nearing completion with multiple reports claiming a medical has taken place.

What's interesting is that for all the talk of £60m-£70m for the midfielder, Fabrizio Romano is reporting the actual fee is £35m. Which seems excellent value.

It remains to be seen what Brighton will do in terms of replacing the 24-year-old, while also considering Moises Caicedo could be moving on. But, as previously reported, they are very keen on Alex Scott.

Should also be flagged that they are believed to be in the process of signing Mahmoud Dahoud from Borussia Dortmund and James Milner on a free so this could all be completely irrelevant from a City perspective.

Nigel Pearson discusses King and Kalas contracts

The manager has given an interview to Robins TV discussing some of the developments at the club over the last few weeks, including the contract futures of Andy King and Tomas Kalas.

Some Championship transfer nuggets

BBC Sheffield's Rob Staton is reporting that Ipswich Town, Plymouth Argyle, and Sheffield Wednesday are interested in signing Rotherham winger Chiedozie Ogbene.

The Republic of Ireland international becomes a free agent at the end of the month and it looks highly unlikely he'll remain at New York Stadium. He's a player who City fans have been keen to see the Robins try and sign but, as it stands, is not a name we're aware of.

Elsewhere, Football Insider believe that Luton Town want to bring in Swansea City defender Joel Latibeaudiere on a free transfer.

The 23-year-old is leaving the Swansea.com Stadium when his contract expires and has admirers across the Championship, but Luton's status as a Premier League club surely puts them in a great spot to sign him.

Meanwhile, having appointed a manager who made a name for himself in Turkey, it's perhaps not surprising to see a Turkish-based player quickly linked with Cardiff City and Fotospor claim they want to sign Trabzonspor’s Anastasios Bakasetas.

The Greek attacking midfielder worked with new Bluebirds boss Erol Bulut at Analyaspor but would require a transfer fee and it's hard to see how Cardiff make that work given they're under an EFL embargo which only permits loans and frees.

Chris Martin's seal of approval

Nice to see the former Robins striker plus Matty Taylor, teammates of Rob Dickie's at QPR and Oxford, respectively, commenting on his Instagram post earlier this week.

Ross McCrorie outlines best position

Interesting to hear the Scot say his preference is at centre-back or right-back, because while what he says and actually happens over the course of his time at City may not be the same, it does provide some potential clues as to what might transpire over the summer window.

City cross the 14,000 season ticket mark

Impressive stuff with the club having already just about matched last season's number. CEO Phil Alexander spoke earlier this year about trying to exceed that figure, which would take them beyond 15,000, and that looks to be very much on track.

Ross McCrorie interview

Great to see the welcoming face (and voice) of Scott Murray showing him around the HPC and some interesting comments on wanting to "step out of his comfort zone" and where his best position lies.

Neil Warnock agrees 12-month deal at Huddersfield

He turns 75 this year but Bristol City can expect further duels with their old adversary as, according to the Mail, Neil Warnock has agreed a 12-month contract to stay on as Huddersfield Town manager.

Warnock took over the Terriers on a short-term basis in February and won seven of 16 games to lead them out of the Championship relegation zone and to safety.

Aberdeen's farewell

Always speaks well of a player when the club he's leaving puts out this kind of a message. The overwhelming response from Dons fans has also been positive.

Ross McCrorie's first words as a City player

Interesting to read the Scot's initial comments as a City player with a focus on the club's playing style and identity.