Bristol City free to sign Leicester City centre-back once Foxes find replacement

The Croatian centre-back is struggling for first team minutes at the King Power under Brendan Rodgers and will be allowed to leave in January

Bristol City are free to sign Leicester City centre-back Filip Benkovic on loan, as soon as the Foxes find a replacement today.

The Telegraph's Mike McGrath reports that once Brendan Rodgers signs a centre back today, City will be allowed to move for the Croatian defender as they look for defensive reinforcements following the departure of Bailey Wright to Sunderland and the possible loan move of Taylor Moore.

The Robins have been eyeing a move for the out-of-favour defender during the January window, but have been forced to wait until Leicester sign another back up Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu, with Rodgers unwilling to let Benkovic leave until cover had been arranged.

He had been linked with moves to the likes of Middlesbrough and former club Celtic, but Bristol City appear to be at the front of the queue once he is given clearance to leave.

Leicester have been considering moves for Southampton centre-back Jannik Vestergaard, Juventus defender Merih Demiral and Edmund Tapsoba of Vitoria Guimaraes in Portugal.

The latter is believed to be nearing a move to German side Bayer Leverkusen, and Demiral is being given more opportunities at the Italian champions so could stay put.

Vestergaard looks the most likely option to join the Foxes, leaving Benkovic free to join the Robins.

City have already strengthened their front line with the addition of Nahki Wells from Burnley and are now turning their attention to defensive reinformcements.

Bristol Live understands that the Robins are showing a late interest in Chelsea defender/midfielder Ethan Ampadu, currently on loan at RB Leipzig in Germany.

He has made just two appearances in the Bundesliga this season and is keen to return to England for more first team opportunities. However Chelsea do not have a recall option in his loan contract, so would have to rely on Leipzig terminating his stay at the club.

Bristol City CEO said that City could still be active on deadline deadline following the Wells signing. Speaking at the beginning of the building of the new training ground on Thursday, Ashton said: "There could be.

"You can never say never and you can never say definitely in this industry and again a lot of stars have to line up to get the deals done and we are looking at other possibilities. And if the right one becomes available and everything is in line then we'll move on it and we'll do it."