Bristol City behind-the-scenes talks underway to sign West Brom ace Taylor Gardner-Hickman in £1m+ permanent transfer.

Liam Manning has revealed that there are discussions ongoing behind the scenes at Bristol City to sign Taylor Gardner-Hickman permanently from West Brom.

Speaking to BristolLive on Friday (29 December), the Robins manager said the Baggies’ Championships rivals “don’t need to rush anything” as they have an option to buy the 21-year-old for £1.3million.

He added that the club will take their time to make sure the deal is right for everybody involved as the manager admitted the midfielder has been “really progressing” over the past few weeks.

“There’s the option to make it permanent so it’s one of those where we don’t need to rush into anything,” said Manning. “There will be discussions ongoing behind the scenes for us to go, right, what does that look like and take our time to make sure it’s right for everybody.

“Taylor has been really progressing since we’ve been here. He had a couple of games where he was out of the team and wasn’t happy about it, as none of the lads should be, and what he did at Huddersfield away was he came on and responded in the right way for me and did everything we wanted in term of reaction.

And he brings an element of composure and quality. His delivery on set-pieces has been hugely impactful and he’s got that in terms of where he can step in and join attacks as well.”

Cash in the bank

It’s probably a deal that West Brom will be hoping Bristol City decide to activate soon because that will provide an extra £1.3million to the club’s coffers.

The midfielder was allowed to leave the Hawthorns on loan over the summer after he struggled to nail down a first-team place under Carlos Corberan last season.

After initially failing to get into the Robins’ starting lineup in the opening few weeks of the season, he has emerged as one of the first names on the teamsheet under Manning over the past couple of months.

Gardner-Hickman will probably be hoping the permanent switch is completed before too long after featuring 20 times at Ashton Gate during this campaign, where he has played at both right-back and in central midfielder.

While he could have a promising future in the game, Corberan clearly doesn’t feel as though that will be possible at the Hawthorns, so it will be best for everyone for the deal to be completed quickly.