Bristol City could lose club legend and players loan manager Brian Tinnion, with Southampton keen on giving him a role in their academy.

The 51-year-old played almost 500 games for the Robins in a successful career and has been involved with them in some capacity for 22 years, including one year as manager in 2004.

However, Bristol Live have revealed how his spell with the club could be coming to an end, as he, along with others at the club, are growing increasingly frustrated at the transfer policy that is affecting the academy, with several top-flight clubs along with the Saints monitoring his situation.

Tinnion is the players loan manager and the report states that he feels the youngsters that go out and do well are not given an opportunity at Ashton Gate when they return.

The club have been very active in the market recently and have focused primarily on adding young talent to the group, with Jay Dasilva, Han-Noah Massengo and Pedro Pereira three examples of that.

That has resulted in Antoine Semenyo as the only academy graduate in the squad, much to the frustration of Tinnion and other employees.

The Verdict

Given Tinnion's love for the club it would be a real shame if he did leave as it is always important you keep figures like that involved.

More importantly though, he is very good at his job, evident with the players that have come through over the years and have been sold on for big money.

Therefore, you can understand why top-flight sides are interested and you can also understand his frustration.

Unfortunately, the fact this has come out now, it seems pretty inevitable to me that Tinnion and others could leave as the difference of opinion on how the club should operate seems significant.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.