£15k-per-week Bristol City man should follow Sam Bell out of Ashton Gate this summer | OneFootball

Harry Cornick should depart Bristol City alongside Sam Bell.

Bristol City are finally within touching distance of grasping a play-off spot as we enter the final stages of the season.

Since their return to the Championship in 2015-16, the Robins have been the very definition of a mid-table team, rarely challenging for the play-offs but also never in danger of relegation.

Their best finish came in 2018-19 when they finished in eighth place, but even then it never felt like they were massively in the fight.

This year, they certainly are, and it seems they are peaking at just the right moment.

If they don't make it, then they still have an excellent foundation to build on and Liam Manning will be keen to refine his squad in the summer.

With this in mind, Football League World have identified two players who could depart Ashton Gate in search of new pastures.

Harry Cornick

Harry Cornick made the move to Bristol City in January 2023 as he departed from Luton Town for an undisclosed fee.

Unfortunately, the attacker hasn't been able to make much of an impact during his time at BS3, with Nigel Pearson and later Manning consistently favouring the likes of Nahki Wells and Sinclair Armstrong.

This season, he has often found himself warming the bench; however, he was given an opportunity to make an impact against Millwall, where he scored the second goal in a 2-0 victory.

It still seems unlikely that this will change anything, and come the summer, they may look to cash in on the 29-year-old.

Journalist Darren Witcoop reported that 29-year-old Cornick was attracting the interest of League One clubs in January. Both Charlton and Wrexham were identified as potential suitors but nothing came to fruition.

Having been a rare presence in the Robins' side, a move to the third tier now seems likely. With just one year remaining on his contract and the striker severely lacking match minutes, City will surely only demand a modest fee, and the attacker will undoubtedly be eager to secure first-team football elsewhere.

Sam Bell

Cornick was certainly an obvious candidate for departure, but next up is a player with an uncertain future: Sam Bell.

The 22-year-old is a graduate of the Robins' academy, but he has struggled to follow the path of players like Tommy Conway and Alex Scott.

Undoubtedly, he has talent and in his first two full seasons he managed to net 11 goals in 68 appearances in all competitions.

However, this season has been something of a setback. Afforded his first start of the campaign against Coventry City in the EFL Cup, the attacker was substituted just before half-time with a hamstring injury. This ruled him out until late November and since returning he has been sparsely used.

Yet to start a league game, recent weeks have seen him remain an unused substitute on multiple occasions. With just over a year remaining on his contract, does he have a future at Ashton Gate?

Aged 22, many will argue he still has time to develop, but it doesn't seem that Manning is particularly inclined to offer him regular minutes.

This could see him move on in the summer, with a number of top-end League One clubs and lower-half Championship sides likely to offer Bell a place in their squad.

Of course, the other option is for them to send him out on loan, hoping that regular starts will allow him to develop and eventually become part of Bristol City's future.