Ellis on City contracts as trio enter final year of Robins deals

Each of Knight, McCrorie and Bird's current deals at Ashton Gate are set to expire in the summer of 2027, after an extension included in McCrorie's contract - which was originally set to run until the end of the most-recent campaign - was confirmed to have been triggered.

Speculation around possible moves for Knight and Bird hasn't been as present, perhaps in part due to the latter's injury issues last season.

Of course, if possible, fans would be keen to see all three players tied down to new contracts. While City's new sporting director did confirm last week that conversations are being held, he is keen to keep the details of such discussions behind closed doors.

Asked if conversations had been had with Knight, McCrorie and Bird, Ellis told BBC Radio Bristol, "Listen, they're all confidential conversations, but at the moment we're in conversations with all of those players.

"All [of them] have contributed significantly in the past. Michael's just been in a week [and it's] important that he speaks to all those players and we prioritise the decisions that we're going to work with them and their representatives and their families for the future."

All the latest news, views, interviews, gossip and analysis concerning the Robins, delivered straight to your inbox.

It's completely free and you can sign up HERE

The topic of players entering the final year of their respective deals has been one of plenty of discussion in south Bristol over the last year or so, primarily due to the Robins' recent experience with both Zak Vyner and Anis Mehmeti.

As Knight, McCrorie and Bird will this August - barring any changes over the summer - Vyner and Mehmeti started the 2025/26 Championship campaign as key players under Struber, but in the final year of their contracts.

While City were confirmed to have offered both players extensions, fresh terms were never agreed. The Reds ultimately opted to sell the pair to Wrexham and Ipswich Town, respectively, in the winter transfer window, to avoid losing them for nothing in the summer.

As a supporter himself, Ellis can understand why such sales will have disappointed the City fanbase. However, the ex-Arsenal technical director recognises that such an outcome is always possible, given the Robins' position in the footballing food chain and is therefore keen for the club to become better prepared to deal with such situations.

"Listen, back to my point about the three bits: there's the performance bit, and there's the business bit," the Robins sporting director explained. "I think, in my previous roles, running down contracts is not really what you want players to do, for obvious reasons, but that bit comes as a relationship and fronting up with a discussion right at the beginning.

"If we're bringing a player in now, then as a football club, we have to understand there are sharks with lots of money and there are carp and there are bream that those sharks are going to eat. What we've got to do is make sure that our carp and our bream are one: very tasty so that we can capitalise, if we want to and two: that they're contracted long enough so that if we want to make that decision, we're capitalising on the investment.

"I get it, no-one wants to see their best players sold. I understand that, but ultimately, in the business model, sometimes you have to do that. The most important thing [is doing it at] the appropriate time. We have to be in a position, and this is why it's a three-year plan; we have players who will be out of contract in the next 18 months.

Join Bristol City Live's Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone

Bristol City Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.

Through the app, we’ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.

To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live team.

We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.

To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.

If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Click here to join our WhatsApp community.

"We have to resolve those situations, but also, at the same time in our recruitment phase, we have to look to protect the football club's financial integrity to allow us to make better decisions. It's not about player versus club, because ultimately, if we sign a player now, we're signing a player to help us in the three-year project.

"Ultimately, if that player does really, really well and our recruitment work is good, we should always know, just in case, if a big club come and take that player, who will be the person either to replace in recruitment, or our squad-build is good enough that we've got a younger player ready to step up.

"This is my point about process squad building; I'm not saying that in the past we haven't done it very well, but we've got to remember we are where we are and we can't do anything about it.

"What we can do is come to a systematic method of squad-building going forward, which helps us perform but gives the business confidence that we're protecting what rightly, at that moment in time, are contracted players, because they're assets."