According to a recent report from Bristol Post, Sheffield United, Leicester City and Burnley are leading the race to sign Bristol City captain Josh Brownhill.
But the same outlet states that the Robins’ 24-year-old key man also has a release clause in his contract that could free him in the coming summer for a fixed fee of around £7m – a clause that was reportedly included in his contract back when he extended his deal in December 2017.
But this still leaves the door open for Sheffield United to swoop in and get their man, either now or by just paying the release clause in six months time.
And by the looks of it, Brownhill would provide a similar skill set to John Fleck.
When we compare the two in their respective 2019/20 domestic league runs, we can actually see the similarities across the board.
Granted, Brownhill has mustered more minutes in the ongoing campaign, tallying 2370 compared to Fleck’s 1829, but there is still not much between the two and their outputs.
Both players are equally skilled and secure on the ball with Fleck registering 80.2% passing accuracy vs Brownhill’s 80.1% and the same can be said for their key passes as the former tallied 1.4 and the latter 1.3 per game.
On a rather similar note, they are both players who often contribute to the defensive actions as well, as can be seen from the figures throughout the 2019/20 season.
Robins’ captain is, however, somewhat better in that department with 1.7 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game compared to his rival’s 1.1 and 0.8 per game respectively and this is the area that he could potentially improve if he was to be brought in.
Fleck, on the other hand, is slightly more creative – as we’ve already seen with his key passing – and carries the ball better than his 24-year-old counterpart.
His 1.4 dribbles per game edge out Brownhill’s 0.7 and this is the most notable difference between the two.
While they have similar skillsets overall, the Blades’ current ace is more of a creative spark in the team that can often progress the ball and pose a direct threat to the opposition.
Bristol City’s star would be a slightly safer and more defensive-minded option but the statistical difference is rather minimal.
In general, Chris Wilder would be getting a fairly familiar player profile with a deal for Brownhill and that probably bodes well for the club.