Cardiff City's transfer deals so far are very smart But

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Cardiff City's transfer deals so far are very smart But

Postby Forever Blue » Tue Jun 19, 2018 2:35 pm

Cardiff City's transfer deals so far are very smart but what does it all mean for Junior Hoilett? -


Also my only concern is that £11m is a lot of money.


By Scott Johnson


Tuesday 19th June 2018


Cardiff City have made their first moves in the transfer market and they have set about reinforcing their left side.

Josh Murphy and Greg Cunningham are very smart signings. Sensible choices, as I expect all of Neil Warnock’s acquisitions will be.

Cardiff have been linked with players from Germany and Turkey in recent weeks, but I would be surprised if there will be many, if any signings from abroad. Warnock tends to keep things simple in the transfer market and sticks to what he knows. I don’t think a Brexit Britain approach to signings will do Cardiff any harm after the revolving door of disappointing imports the last time Cardiff were promoted.

I subscribe to the school of thought that any promoted side should try to assemble a collection of the best Championship players when they go up. Murphy and Cunningham certainly fit in that bracket.

Murphy is a tremendous talent and I was very impressed by him when he faced Cardiff with Norwich last season. His form may be patchy at times, but you would back Warnock to get the best out of him on a more consistent basis.


It was the sort of injection of flair that Cardiff needed and the deal reminds me of Cardiff’s approach for Tom Ince the last time they went up, only this time they’ve managed to get a deal over the line.



My only concern is that £11m is a lot of money.




Not for Murphy necessarily, as the going rate has become stratospheric, but it is for the club. Warnock recently mentioned that the club will have a budget just over half of Huddersfield’s.

If they’re going to spend £50m like last year, then Cardiff’s budget is likely to be around the £30m mark. Therefore it is likely that there may only be a couple of eight-figure signings, if that, so only time will tell if he was the right player or the right position to shell out on.

It also begs the question as to whether Murphy was brought in to compliment or replace Junior Hoilett.

With a long-term contract, Hoilett would probably be worth a broadly similar amount to Murphy, so in theory, if he leaves, that is the sort of money Cardiff would need to spend to adequately replace him. Unless they can find a free agent of their own or a loan signing to draft in that is.

The perception was that Hoilett was waiting to see if Warnock would agree a new deal with the club before himself committing. Well Warnock put pen to paper at the end of February and four months later, Hoilett’s future remains unclear. Maybe he was waiting to see which division Cardiff would be playing in? It’s now heading towards two months since they sealed promotion to the Premier League.




The situation was mirrored at Fulham by Ryan Fredericks, one of their star performers who also had a dwindling deal. When they secured promotion via the play-offs, it was assumed that he would stay on, but he promptly departed for West Ham on a free transfer.

Hoilett, like Aron Gunnarsson, is at a stage in his career where his next deal may be his last big pay day, so it is understandable that he may want to survey his options. Coming off possibly the best season of his career, he will not be short of suitors. Similarly, Gunnarsson will be using the World Cup as a shop window and no one would begrudge him the chance of a glamorous transfer.

What has surprised everyone is that it was seen as a given that he would want to stick with Warnock, the man who revived his career at QPR. The manager he waited until October for a couple of years back, missing pre-season and a chunk of the season in order to be reunited with his mentor at Cardiff.

Hoilett also has it pretty good here. He is more or less a guaranteed starter, at least prior to the arrival of Murphy, a Premier League campaign is forthcoming, he has the support of fans and a contract is on the table. Surely he knows by now that the grass is not always greener. He does have previous in running his contract down though. That is how Cardiff signed him in the first place.

It would be a shame if Hoilett did depart because there would be fierce competition for places amongst Hoilett and Murphy, plus Cunningham and Joe Bennett. Cunningham was the most predictable signing of the summer, but may prove to be one of the best too. A fierce competitor, he is every inch a Warnock player and it would not surprise me if he started the season ahead of Bennett.

I think Murphy and Cunningham are also signings that, in the worst case scenario were Cardiff to be relegated, would likely stick around. I guess that is the other advantage of bringing in hungry Championship players.


Who knows what the hold-up is when Warnock alludes to the ‘slight problem’ in Hoilett’s contract negotiations. The assumption will be that cash is at the source of it, but it could be any number of things. The problem is that Cardiff have backed themselves in to a corner on this one and Hoilett certainly has the upper hand.

Hoilett can afford to remain a free agent beyond the closing of the transfer window and in many ways that may be in his best interests. Cardiff do not have the luxury of time though and if this situation continues to drag on, they will have to pull the plug and look elsewhere eventually.

It’s a shame because if Hoilett does decide to stay on, Cardiff could consider their left-hand side as covered and concentrate on other areas of the side instead.
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Cardiff City's transfer deals so far are very smart But

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