Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton has declared the “starting point” for clubs wanting Aaron Collins is £4 million, with quotes from BristolLive.
Collins is coming off a tremendous season that saw him awarded League One Player of the Year, and is now gauging interest from Championship club Stoke and more. While the Gas would like to keep their star man, there is an understanding every player has a price and for the right fee, Rovers would consider selling.
Who Is Aaron Collins?
The striker signed for Rovers two seasons ago and has really come into his own under the management of Joey Barton. After helping secure the Gas promotion last season, Collins had 27 goal contributions during his first year in League One, guiding him to Player of the Season and being included in the League One Team of the Season.
How Much Would He Cost?
With Collins’ success comes the interest from the bigger fish, however, Rovers are in a premium position on not needing to sell. Collins just signed a two-year contract extension at the beginning of the season, keeping him contracted to Bristol till 2025.
Despite this, every team has their price and Barton wants to compare this situation to last year of MK Dons’ Scott Twine. Twine joined Burney for a fee of £4 million, with the forward also coming off the award of League One Player of the Season.
Barton views this transfer as the “starting point” for teams interested in Collins, while also believing it should rise due to the potential of Collins being a part of the Wales National team.
What’s Been Said:
Speaking to Bristol Live, Barton spoke in full about the upcoming situation with Collins.
“Starting point? Has to be where Twine started, It will be a Championship club from what I’ve heard and it’ll depend on how the seasons finish. From what I’ve heard who is circling, whether they come through with an offer or not I’m not sure.
“We’re in a great spot in terms of they’ll pay a premium for him.
“I’m imagining there will be a deal to be struck. (But) Wael certainly doesn’t need the money. We’re in a good position from that, we’ve got him contractually secure.
“Aaron is a good player but the football club and the badge on the front jersey is bigger than the name on the back. He’s been superb here, if we lose him we’ll lose him at a profit, we don’t want to lose him. Somebody else will get a chance to play in front of this fan base and hopefully climb lampposts on Gloucester Road next season.
“He’s a great lad and if the price is right it’s going to be tough for us, but I’m hoping no one meets his asking price and Aaron comes back. That’s 30 goal involvements next year that I don’t need to find in the summer.”
Writer’s View
While it’s not great to see your star player catching interest from bigger clubs, Rovers are in a great situation if they play their cards right. As Collins still has two years left on his contract, any sale would be a premium price that Rovers could reinvest into the team. Barton has great contacts and recruited many good players, so this approach could be promising.
On the other hand, the Gas could refuse to cash in and allow Collins to continue his development under Barton, with the hope they can progress up the Football League together.
