'Versatile and disciplined' - What Bristol City fans can expect from Hull City's Markus Henriksen

The Norweigian international is being lined up for a deadline day loan move

For at least six months now, Lee Johnson has dropped hints over his desire for a "No6"; a defensive midfielder who can sit in front the defence, break up play and launch counter-attacks.

Marlon Pack performed some of that task but maybe lacked the dynamism required to fulfil the latter task, Han-Noah Massengo is still a work in progress and Korey Smith has only just worked his way back to full fitness, and is more of a forward-facing midfielder.

In Markus Henriksen, Johnson may well have landed his man with Bristol City poised to sign the Norway international on loan until the end of the season, taking advantage of his situation at Hull City which has seen him exiled to train with Rosenborg.

At 27, Henriksen is very much approaching his peak years, has excellent and extensive experience at Championship level as well as the Premier League and in the Eredivisie with AZ while he has been capped 54 times.

We spoke to Jonty Colman at Hull Live for some insight into the man likely to be the next on the Ashton Gate roof ...

It seems an obvious question but why hasn't he played for Hull this season?

It's been an ongoing issue now for at least six months but one that is more political than anything else.

In the summer, everyone at the club, including Henriksen, expected him to leave but a move never came to fruition.

He played in two pre-season games but then all of a sudden was left out of the team against Doncaster, stripped of the captaincy because it was clear he wanted to go and McCann made it clear he didn't want him part of the squad.

He's been left gutted and the club have been frustrated because they can't shift one of their higher earners.

Since then the relationship between player and club has just gotten worse. He was last seen in a Hull shirt in September for the Under-23s, even though he's played five times for Norway in European Championship qualifiers.

It's been a bizarre situation but one that needs to be resolved.

To the uninitiated, what sort of player is he?

A very disciplined, positionally-sound holding midfielder. But funnily enough, when he arrived, he had a bit of a reputation as being a playmaker/No10-type and then became a bit of a box-to-box player but gradually he's moved further and further back in midfield.

He even had a few brief stints as a centre-back, which shows his versatility, but he's a No6 by trade.

And what are his best attributes?

He's a good tackler and has a good pass on him plus all the other skills that make up a defensive midfielder.

To be perfectly honest with you, it's been so long since we've seen him in action it's hard to remember!

He was made captain, what was his leadership style and was he a good one?

Captain-wise, he had the role for a whole season in a squad that included an experienced faces such as David Marshall, Eric Lichaj, Jackson Irvine and Fraizer Campbell among others and was kept in the role under Nigel Adkins, so he must have been doing something right.

What's your opinion of this move, does it make sense for Bristol City?

Oh, absolutely. It's been long overdue and he needs to move on. Bristol City will be getting a very experienced and capable Championship player.