Bristol City’s promotion hopes took a dramatic hit when top goalscorer Benik Afobe ruptured his ACL in training on Tuesday. The on-loan Stoke City striker had netted three times in five games and demonstrated the attacking quality that the Robins have been missing for some time.
Therefore, his injury represents a significant obstacle to City’s promotion ambitions, and this was made even more evident as they drew a blank at home to Swansea last Saturday.
Following the 0-0 draw with the Swans, Lee Johnson admitted that his team was missing quality and a clinical edge in the final third, and as a result will scour the free-agent market for any potential acquisitions. Johnson proved he’s not afraid to use this market, having signed club-less centre-back Ashley Williams just a fortnight ago. However, who is available, and would add strength to the Robins’ forward-line?
The most obvious candidates with Championship experience are Wilfried Bony and Gary Hooper. But are they capable of improving the pool of strikers in BS3?
Wilfried Bony
The Ivorian was released by Swansea at the end of the last campaign due to an immensely disappointing, injury-stricken and goal-deprived second spell at the Liberty Stadium. Prior to that, however, Bony had netted 26 times in the Premier League for Swansea, which tempted Manchester City to purchase him for £25million. Indeed, it is without a doubt that the 30-year-old striker has star-quality, it is just a question of whether Johnson can help Bony re-find his 2015 form.
Gary Hooper
Hooper has been prolific in the Championship in the past, scoring 42 times in just 112 appearances for Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City. However, the 31-year-old was released by the Owls at the end of the 2018-19 season, and Lee Johnson will surely ponder whether he’s good enough for Bristol City if he’s deemed not good enough for Wednesday.
The verdict
It is undeniable that both Bony and Hooper have had successful pasts in this division, however, they are both massively out-of-form, and are unlikely to be match-fit due to the lack of a pre-season. It would certainly be a gamble to add either to Bristol City’s ranks, and Johnson will instead most likely choose to trust his existing striking-unit comprising of Andreas Weimann, Famara Diedhou and Antoine Semenyo.
Bristol City continue their Championship campaign with a tough fixture on the road against Preston North End at Deepdale on Saturday.
