Bristol City yet to receive offers from Everton and Newcastle United for Joe Bryan, says Lee Johnson

Bristol City have not received any bids from Everton and Newcastle United for Joe Bryan according to manager Lee Johnson, who is confident the talented left-back will remain at Ashton Gate for the rest of the campaign.

The Merseysiders and Geordies have both been credited with an interest in completing a £7m ($9.8m) swoop for Bryan, who has produced a number of well-rounded performances to help the vibrant Robins push for promotion to the Premier League.

But Johnson, who is currently readying his side to face Manchester City in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final, confirmed on Monday (22 January) that his side have received "nothing solid" from either interested party.

The City boss went on to stress that the Robins are not in the business of auctioning off their best players and is confident the club's owners will understand Bryan's importance to the first-team set-up and reject any concrete interest from the likes of Everton and Newcastle, should any materialise.

Johnson also revealed that City are working hard behind the scenes to sign players before the end of the month - Saint-Etienne striker Lois Diony took to Instagram to confirm his loan move to Ashton Gate via on Tuesday.

Asked about interest in his star defender, Johnson said per the Bristol Post: "I don't know. Certainly nothing solid has come in from any those clubs linked.

"Joe Bryan's a fantastic player and I definitely don't want to lose him. I don't think we will lose any of our key players at this moment in time, but obviously it changes by the hour in the window sometimes.

"I think we're in a position where clubs know that we're not a selling club. They [the club's owners] know that we're competing in the league at the moment as well as the league cup, and it'll take time to get a viable replacement so it's not a good window to lose players - particularly with the position we're in.

"We've got the beauty of having an owner who's very pragmatic and understands that we want to do our very best to compete strongly in the last 17-18 games of the season."

Johnson and City's apparent stance over Bryan may make Everton and Newcastle consider their options over strengthening their respective left-back spots before the end of the January transfer window.

Rafa Benitez's men are poised to complete a loan deal for Chelsea's Kenedy, who can operate as a left-winger or at left-back, while Everton have been linked with a host of players including Bayern Munich's Juan Bernat and Chelsea's Baba Rahman as they seek to find cover and an eventual replacement for 33-year-old Leighton Baines, who has missed two months with a calf problem.