" Full Story "
Why Cardiff City's free transfers and loan signings will make or break their summer
By Scott Johnson
Tuesday 22nd May 2018
How much will Cardiff spend this summer? It’s the question that everyone is asking. Will they copy Brighton and Huddersfield, who both parted with sums in the region of around £50m last year, or follow Burnley’s lead and keep it closer to the £30m mark?
Only time will tell, although I suspect that Neil Warnock will not be looking to rock the boat too hard. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the side he fields in the opening game of next season is not significantly different to the team that faced Reading in the final game of last season.
I’ve long held the belief that the smart way of preparing for the Premier League is by building a Championship dream team of sorts, but that is far more difficult these days when you have the likes of Norwich’s James Maddison quickly slapped with a £30m price tag.
The smart thing to do, for any newly promoted side or anyone outside of the Premier League elite, is to make the most of free agents and loan signings.
In Cardiff ’s case, they need to resolve the futures of their own free agents first, primarily Junior Hoilett and Aron Gunnarsson. Both remain untethered beyond the summer and it would probably cost the club a sizeable chunk of their budget if they decide to head elsewhere.
Beyond that, there are a wealth of available options amongst the freebies. Take the position of goalkeeper for example. Cardiff are in need of a new number two and cannot afford to neglect that position, with Neil Etheridge heading off for an unspecified amount of time on international duty in the new year.
The available options, at the time of writing, include Welsh number one Wayne Hennessey, Everton’s Joel Robles, Brighton’s Tim Krul and Tottenham’s Michel Vorm. All very good goalkeepers that would provide Etheridge with very stiff competition.
Hull’s Abel Hernandez is tailor-made to spearhead Cardiff’s system, while Ryan Fredericks would revolutionise their right flank from right back. Swansea’s Ki Sung-Yeung is reportedly happy in south Wales, but keen to remain in the top flight. Surely someone just needs to connect the dots there!
There are some very exciting free agents abroad too. If Warnock relishes the challenge of a maverick creative genius, then Hatem Ben Arfa would be right up his street. The French prodigy may be the wrong side of 30 now and has spent the season in the stands at PSG, but he remains a remarkable talent in the right hands.
Former Tottenham and Fulham midfielder Lewis Holtby, 27, scored five in the last seven games of the season at Hamburg, but it was not enough to stop them getting relegated from the top flight for the first time in their history. Cardiff have already been linked with his team mate Sven Schipplock, who looks a rather underwhelming target, so here’s hoping that they are already well aware of Holtby’s availability.
FC Twente’s Adam Maher is also soon up for grabs. A little younger than the other two at 24, the attacking midfielder was very highly rated a few years back and has represented Holland in the past. He appears to have lost his way, but the but the ability remains.
Premier League sides are also granted the luxury of two loan signings and Cardiff would be daft not to make the most of them. Last season, Paul Clement made the most of his connections to bring in Tammy Abraham from Chelsea and Renato Sanches from Bayern Munich. On paper, very smart signings, but in reality, ill-equipped for a relegation battle.
There are pretty much two types of loan signing; the young tyro in need of experience or the slightly older misfit, that may be a victim of circumstance or just in need of a change.
So someone like Manchester City’s Phil Foden, who has featured for the record-breaking champions on occasion this season despite not turning 18 until the end of the month, would certainly be regarded as the former.
Whereas Everton’s Davy Klaassen would definitely qualify as the latter and is in urgent need of a change. Signed for £23m last summer, he almost immediately found himself out of favour when they then signed Gylfi Sigurdsson and sacked the manager that signed him.
There are always infinite loan options, but the picks include Tottenham’s Harry Winks, who Mauricio Pochettino refers to as ‘Little Iniesta’ and just awarded a new five-year deal. Everton’s Ademola Lookman looks a real prospect and has impressed on loan at RB Leipzig, scoring five in his last seven games.
Chelsea’s attacking midfielder Mason Mount topped that, with 14 goals in 25 appearances for Vitesse in the Dutch Eredivisie. I’m sure there will be plenty of Cardiff fans pushing for Liverpool’s Welsh contingent of Ben Woodburn and Harry Wilson too.
When you consider that Cardiff’s current youngest first-team player is 23-year-old Callum Paterson and he is already grey, it is clear that they could certainly benefit from an injection of youth in their ranks.
Navigating these choppy waters would leave Warnock free to invest more money in specific areas of his squad, rather than have to spread his funds thinly. Time is of the essence though. The early bird certainly catches the worm in these circumstances and plenty of conversations will already be taking place.
Getting his business done early and decisively last summer set Warnock up nicely for a remarkable campaign that exceeded all expectations. With a World Cup looming and a transfer window that now shuts ahead of the season commencing, it will be a brutal market this year and it is the well-run clubs that will thrive. Here’s hoping that Cardiff will be one of them.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.