Teenage Bristol City prospect set to complete summer switch as Premier League club agree deal | Bristol Live

Bristol City have accepted an offer from Wolves for teenage prospect Ashton Williams who featured for the Under-21s earlier this season

Bristol City have accepted an offer from Wolves for Ashton Williams, Bristol Live understands, with the teenager set to complete an early summer transfer to link up with the Premier League side.

As first reported by Football Insider, the Molineux club have seen an offer for the 16-year-old, who has been with the Robins for the last seven years, accepted by the Reds and the Welsh youth international is in line to make the step-up to the top-flight club's academy this summer.

Williams, who only turned 16 last month, is highly rated at the Robins High Performance Centre. Despite his age, he featured for the Reds' Under-21s earlier this season, starting City's Premier League Cup clash with Exeter City at the training base in February.

The teenager was named alongside Tim Ap Sion and Raphael Araoye, who was sent off in the first half for a foul on Jay Bird, in the Young Robins' backline ahead of now-released first-team goalkeeper Stefan Bajic.

Although the 10-man side managed to secure a 2-2 draw on that evening, it saw their Premier League Cup journey come to an end.

In April, Newport-born Williams started for Wales Under-16s in their friendly defeat to the Netherlands. The defender played 86 minutes before being replaced by Cardiff City prospect Oliver Williams in the closing exchanges as the home side lost 3-0.

With players unable to put pen to paper on a professional contract until the age of 17, it is easy for Premier League clubs to attract young prospects from clubs lower in the English pyramid for what will almost certainly prove to be a reduced fee when compared to what their value will likely become in the future.

Premier League clubs are also becoming more aggressive in their youth recruitment given the demand for having homegrown players in their playing squads. On top of that, the benefits such players can bring from a financial fair play perspective should they be later sold on has become increasingly more valuable in recent times.

City have fallen victim to this situation many times in recent years. Last term saw Henry Kasvosve complete a permanent move to Brighton and Hove Albion despite the Robins' best efforts to keep him in the West Country while the Reds reluctantly sold Reuben McAllister to Hibernian in 2022.

Perhaps the most well-known example of such a situation came more than a decade ago when Herbie Kane decided to leave the Reds' academy to join Liverpool, a decision which he has since admitted he regrets.