Swindon Town boss Richie Wellens is still keen on Bristol Rovers midfielder Kyle Bennett and plans to table a bid this week as reported by the Swindon Advertiser.
Bennett signed on loan with the Robins in January and impressed Wellens and the County Ground faithful with some excellent attacking performances in the Swindon engine room. He made fifteen appearances and scored four goals during his spell, and Wellens made no secret of his admiration for the player when speaking to the Advertiser, but added a move depended on him being able to shift some out of favour players of the club’s wage bill. He said: ‘I’m hoping to make an offer this week, but we still have players at the club that will not be involved this season and are taking up a sizable chunk of the wage bill.’
‘Unless I can get them out, it’s difficult to bring players in on a decent wage.’
Bennett, who began his career at Wolves, has also previously played for Doncaster, Bury, Crawley and Bradford.
The twenty-eight-year-old made forty-three appearances for Rovers and scored four goals after joining as a free agent in February 2018 following a three-year stint at Portsmouth. While at Fratton Park, Bennett was a key member of Portsmouth’s League Two championship-winning side of 2016/17.
He fell out of favour at Rovers following the dismissal of Darrell Clarke, with new boss Graham Coughlan only giving him one hundred and seventeen minutes of football following his appointment in December before he sanctioned the loan move to Wiltshire in the January window.
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Our View
Bennett did indicate he would be open to a move back to the County Ground at the end of last season and Wellens is obviously keen, so the only obstacle appears to be money.
However, he has featured in pre-season for the Gas and may be coming back into the reckoning at Rovers.
Bennett stood out in League Two last season, and Robins’ fans will be desperate to see him back in the red shirt next season while Rovers fans will be pondering whether he can do a job for Coughlan.
Robins’ fans will be willing the club to push the boat out and land their man, and if Swindon are serious about a promotion push, Bennett is the quality of player they need to sign.
