Mark Sykes addresses Bristol City future as Robins winger sheds light on contract situation

Mark Sykes is one of a handful of Bristol City players entering the final months of their current contracts at Ashton GateBristol City winger Mark Sykes applauds fans after the Robins’ win over Norwich City(Image: Photo by David Watts/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Mark Sykes says he’s yet to be offered a new contract by Bristol City, and while the versatile winger is hopeful that “something can happen” in the coming weeks and months, he is yet to hear from the Robins regarding his long-term future.

The 28-year-old, who joined the ranks at Ashton Gate from Oxford United in the summer of 2022, is one of a handful of players entering the final months of their current deals in the West Country, alongside fellow first-team regulars Anis Mehmeti and Zak Vyner.

Sykes initially put pen to paper on a three-year contract with the Reds, within which an option to extend his stay for an extra season was included. After the Ireland international was reportedly the subject of transfer interest from Stoke City last winter, City activated the aforementioned option to tie the winger to BS3 until the end of the 2025/26 campaign.

In April, the 28-year-old told Bristol Live that he would love to remain in south Bristol “for as long as possible” if a new deal, after the year extension, were to be agreed. So far, Sykes has yet to receive such an offer, but his focus is directed towards on-pitch matters, rather than his own future.

“I mean, as far as I know, I’m at the club for the next six months, until the end of the season,” the winger said in his pre-Millwall press conference on Wednesday afternoon. “Then, hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, couple of months, something can happen.

“But from this point of view and from where we stand right now, I haven’t heard anything from the club, and I’ve been offered nothing. So as far as I know, I’ve got six months left and, like I say, I’ll work as hard as I can.

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“Every game’s important, and [I’ll] just keep cracking on, get my head down and keep going.”

Between now and March, City have an awful lot of Championship football to play, starting with a testing run of matches leading up to Christmas against Millwall, Leicester City, Coventry City and Middlesbrough.

While this block of fixtures over the course of the next four months will have a major bearing on what Gerhard Struber’s side are able to achieve this season, Sykes and his Republic of Ireland teammates have the small matter of World Cup qualifying play-offs to come early next year.

The Boys in Green kept their dream of qualifying for next summer’s tournament alive with wins over Portugal and Hungary in the November international break – matches Sykes missed having sustained an injury during the Robins’ defeat to Blackburn Rovers last month.

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Standing in Ireland’s way will be the Czech Republic, and should they get the better of Jaroslav Kostl’s side, they will face Denmark or North Macedonia in a straight shoot-out for a place at the World Cup. After sitting out the last set of games, Sykes is hoping to be busy during next summer’s off-season.

“I was unfortunate to miss that last camp,” said the 28-year-old. “I was in the squad, and I got that gash on my leg and unfortunately had to pull out of what looked like an amazing camp. The lads did really well and credit to them, but it’s still a long way to go.

“Hopefully, we can get there in the summer.”

On his experience of the qualifiers, Sykes added, “I watched them both at home. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t allowed to move much; I had a bandage on my leg with almost a tube on my leg as well, so I was sat on the sofa for about 10 days and watched the games.

“I couldn’t believe it, to be honest, because the odds were against us, but we came out on top. As I say, we haven’t cracked it just yet, but come March, we’ll see where we stand and hopefully [we’ll have] something to look forward to in the summer.”

Mark Sykes addresses Bristol City future as Robins winger sheds light on contract situation

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