CITY are not expected to unveil a new central defender in time for Saturday's opening home game against Shrewsbury.

They have agreed a six-figure fee with his club, thought to be between £150,000-£250,000, and opened talks with the player yesterday. But it is unlikely that a deal will be struck within the next couple of days.

Phil Parkinson will not reveal the identity of his target but the Bantams have been tracking him all summer.

His club are reluctant to let him go, which is why it has taken so long to get this far. But after much to-ing and fro-ing through the off season, they finally sanctioned City's bid on Monday.

City have leaked six goals in their opening two games and Parkinson admitted after the opening-day defeat at Swindon that a deal needed to be pushed through.

Now it is down to personal terms and persuading the player that his future could be at Valley Parade.

Parkinson said after the York game: "We got a fee agreed with a club for a player. That's taken a long time to do that.

"But it only takes one call or one agent to decide everything's not quite right and deals are put back. They're not over until they are done."

The hunt for another goalkeeper to compete with Ben Williams for the number one spot still goes on.

Chris Kirkland was understood to have been a possibility but he yesterday joined Preston on a one-year deal.

At the Championship new boys, he will be vying for a starting role with former City loanee Jordan Pickford, who Parkinson would love to have brought back for a second season.

Veteran Jussi Jaaskelainen spent just over a week training with the Bantams before Parkinson decided to pull the plug. The 40-year-old keeper then signed for Wigan.