Cisse on verge of Bristol City switch
Anthony Smith • Published 8 Jul 2010 09:00
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On his way: Kalifa Cisse looks set to be reuinited with Steve Coppell at Bristol City after Reading accepted a bid this week for the out-of-favour midfielder.
KALIFA Cisse is set to leave Reading to be reunited with former boss Steve Coppell at Championship rivals Bristol City.
The Chronicle can reveal that a fee in the region of £500,000 has been reached with the Robins for the out-of-favour midfielder.
Cisse, 26, still has to agree personal terms and pass a medical before the transfer goes through.
But there are unlikely to be any glitches at this stage and the move should be finalised within a few days.
Ex-Reading boss Coppell who signed Cisse from Portuguese giants Boavista for £1 million in May 2007. But he failed to hold down a regular place in the side and current boss Brian McDermott is willing to let him go.
The Mali international will become the second player sold this summer following Marek Matejovsky's recent £600,000 switch to Sparta Prague - another story we exclusively broke in the Chronicle.
Cisse is already familiar to the Ashton Gate faithful who witnessed his 25-yard scorcher in a thumping 4-1 Royals victory back in November 2008 when Coppell was at the helm.
Reading director of football Nick Hammond would not discus specific transfer deals, but he did admit they will consider offers for any players with a £12 million black hole to fill following the end of Premier league parachute payments.
"Brian McDermott and I have been clear with the board about the squad," he explained. "I always have to look at things from the other side and consider the financial situation.
"We consider all offers on their merit but we are confident we can keep the group together and be competitive. However, if anything comes our way we will have look at it closely."
Meanwhile, McDermott could make a bold attempt to bring Nathan Tyson back to the Madejski Stadium.
The 28-year-old came through Reading's youth system but, after finding his first-team opportunities limited, he was sold to Forest for £675,000 in November 2005, going on to score 31 goals in 146 league games.
Hammond also told last week's Chronicle that stories linking QPR with a £1.5 million bid for Jobi McAnuff are false.
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