Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson has confirmed that Town have made a loan move for midfielder Tyreeq Bakinson and says the 23-year-old can leave Ashton Gate as he “just wants to play on his own terms”.
Asked by BBC Bristol Sport whether there was any truth in the reports that Bakinson is on the verge of joining the Blues, Pearson responded: "Yes.”
Asked whether the deal would be finalised before the weekend, he added: "I don’t know where we’re at with it but as far as I’m concerned, I’ve said it before, [if] players don’t want to be here they can go, I’m not bothered.
"He’s a player who unfortunately just wants to play on his own terms. It’s not something I particularly want, so he can go.”
Speaking to Bristol Live, Pearson continued: "I'm not wasting energy on negativity, I don't invest time on that, I'm not just saying it. If you ask people who work with me they'll say exactly the same thing, I don't waste energy on negativity, it drives me mad.
"If people aren't in the side, I want them to work hard to get there and I want people who are in the side to work hard to stay there. I don't want people that when the going gets tough, they want to go somewhere else, I'm not interested.
"The fact that I am prepared to say, 'Yeah, let the deal go ahead' because actually, people around the place who sap the energy out of other people is not as valuable as having people here who want to be playing.”
Pearson, who came close to being named Town boss in 2006, says freeing up space on the wage bill to bring in new additions isn't a factor in the move.
"He's not really a high earner, so that's not something that is particularly high on the agenda with this one,” he said.
Discussions between the clubs are ongoing regarding a deal which will be an initial loan with a view to the move becoming permanent in the summer.
London-born Bakinson came through the youth ranks at Luton before joining City - where Town CEO Mark Ashton was then in charge - in October 2017 having made four senior starts and two sub appearances for the Hatters.
Since then the defensively-minded central midfielder has made 33 starts and 20 sub appearances, scoring five times, while also spending spells out on loan at Newport County in 2018/19 and Plymouth Argyle in the second half of the following campaign.
Contracted to his current club until the summer of 2023, the Robins having activated an additional one-year option in his contract late last year in order to protect their asset, Bakinson has been on the fringes at Ashton Gate recently with his sub appearance in the 6-2 defeat at Fulham on Saturday his first since December 4th.
Bakinson will become Town’s fourth current loan player - alongside Bersant Celina from Dijon, Macauley Bonne from QPR and Hayden Coulson from Middlesbrough - with Christian Walton having signed on a permanent basis and Louie Barry returning to Aston Villa earlier in the month.
It's likely the move will be done in time for Bakinson to potentially make his debut in Saturday's home game against Accrington Stanley.