Transfer gossip: Portsmouth line up Bristol City defender as maiden January window signing

The Blues are keen on bringing in the defender for a fee of around £30,000 plus add-ons, as they look to get their January business underway.

Towler’s contract runs until the summer of 2024 at Ashton Gate, with the 20-year-old spending the first half of the campaign out on loan at AFC Wimbledon.

Pompey are without a head coach following Danny Cowley’s sacking after 22 months on Monday.

But new sporting director Richard Hughes is overseeing transfer strategy, and is believed to be the key influence in engineering the deal.

Hughes, of course, has ties in the south west after arriving at Fratton Park from Forest Green Rovers in October.

Towler has made 24 appearances for the Dons, including a substitute appearance at Fratton Park in the Papa John’s Trophy meeting with the Dons in November.

Now the Bristol-born talent has to make a decision over whether a move to PO4 is the best move to develop his promising potential.

Towler certainly fits the bill in terms of the profile of young player are trying to bring in.

The Blues are looking to land emerging players, not necessarily to throw straight into the first-team picture.

The plans is to nurture that talent to make them first-team ready and improve their market value.

Zak Swanson and Jay Mingi are two players who fall into the category, who have arrived and are now making strides this season.