' Will Cardiff City Offer a New Contract to Cardiff Star? '

Cardiff City cannot afford to let Aron Gunnarsson walk away on a free transfer after the World Cup -


It’s November and there are still no signs, in public at least, that a new contract is imminent.

Aron Gunnarssons contract expires at the end of this season.



By Scott Johnson


Thursday 9th November 2017


Cardiff City have, at times, sailed perilously close to the wind when it comes to player contract renewals in recent years.

Neil Warnock did prevent expensive acquisition Bruno Manga leaving on a free transfer in the summer, a move that appeared to be a turning point in light of Sol Bamba, Lee Peltier and Sean Morrison all agreeing new deals as their respective contracts approached their final year.

But last summer also saw the drawn out saga of Peter Whittingham’s long goodbye, which dragged on beyond the end of the season and denied Cardiff supporters the chance to say goodbye to a club legend.

I hope that mistake is not repeated with Gunnarsson, whose current deal is up at the end of the current campaign.

Admittedly, there are mitigating circumstances to take into consideration. He got married in the summer, but the assumption was that matters would be addressed when he returned for pre-season.

It’s November and there are still no signs, in public at least, that a new contract is imminent.

During the summer, Gunnarsson’s agent Jerry de Koning insisted that his client was “very happy at the club,” before stating: “We will see what happens with it. No-one has spoken about it yet, but it is early and people are on holiday.”

Having arrived in the Welsh capital as a free agent from Coventry City in 2011, fears are growing that he could be on the move in similar circumstances this summer.

After leading his country to the World Cup for the first time in their history, Gunnarsson might choose to play in Russia out of contract, hoping that an impressive showing will result in interest from clubs further up the football food chain.

Hal Robson-Kanu did a similar thing ahead of Euro 2016. A bit-part player at Reading, THAT goal helped him secure a Premier League move to West Brom and he has flourished ever since, recently signing a new deal at the Hawthorns.

Of course, much will depend on where Cardiff are at that point. Should they maintain their fine early season form and secure a return to the Premier League, Gunnarsson might be more inclined to stay on.

The Icelandic international is the last remaining player to have experienced the Bluebirds' last top flight campaign, and I certainly wouldn't begrudge him the desire to return there, with or without Cardiff.

Warnock's work in bringing Manga round to signing a new deal is certainly a cause for optimism, particularly given that Gunnarsson is a player with a real connection to the club and the fans.

We are not privy to what is taking place behind the scenes, but hopefully talks are progressing nicely.

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Neil Warnock has stated on many occasions on how reliable and how Gunnarsson is part of his backbone of Cardiff City's current team

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without knowing how much he is on..
it does sound like its more than our club would like to be paying him..therefore can not offer an extention on those terms for financial reasons { we lose our parachute payments at end of this season }..promotion and TV money of course would change this and maybe at the end of this season and his contract just like Manga a new deal might be sorted...

You can’t expect the club or the player to commit to a deal if we don’t know what is going to happen next season. If we get promotion then Gunnar gets offered a new deal and the chance to stay. If we don’t go up he gets a reduced offer and looks to see if a bigger club wants him in the PL, to see if he can do better.

Stop pissing about and sign him up ASAP.

I assume the big issue is his wages which I think he's on 15k - 20k a week, and thats a lot for a championship holding midfielder to be on. Hopefully the club get it sorted though as I think we have seen how big a loss he is when he's not playing.

I assume the big issue is his wages which I think he's on 15k - 20k a week, and thats a lot for a championship holding midfielder to be on. Hopefully the club get it sorted though as I think we have seen how big a loss he is when he's not playing.

if we dont go up we probably wont be able to afford his wages.

He's worth 20k a week. We won't be able to bring in a quality, solid, dependable, consistent, committed, battle hardened warrior to replace him on any less than that. He's way too important to us and would be a massive loss if he goes.

He's worth 20k a week. We won't be able to bring in a quality, solid, dependable, consistent, committed, battle hardened warrior to replace him on any less than that. He's way too important to us and would be a massive loss if he goes.

i agree...but the TV money stops next season and i think we are already sailing close to the wind with FFP.

Depends what kind of money he wants. I don't think he is irreplaceable. In fact I think its the position we need to improve on most. Would love him to stay but on sensible wages.

Sign him up and sell him in the summer.

Depends what kind of money he wants. I don't think he is irreplaceable. In fact I think its the position we need to improve on most. Would love him to stay but on sensible wages.

David Meyler is available on a free in the summer and he did a terrific job for Rep of Ireland against us and plays the 6 role really well, also Stuart Bannigan is available on a free in the summer and he's been terrific in Scotland in that 6 position so there are options if Gunnar does leave or doesn't wanna lower his wages.

he's probably our highest paid player now and I can't see the club offering a better contract I think there could be better players for less money out there in the summer

None of this makes sense, he should be a Warnock type player and Warnock does talk fondly of him, but he also had many platitudes for Whitts.

IMO Gunnar is on and may want at 28 a big (4 year) deal, more than we got and if we got promoted we'd need better. Wouldn't be surprised if he is off in the next window or signs a pre contract agreement for the summer.