POSSIBLE MIDFIELD TRANSFER CONTENDERS THIS SUMMER?

The early possible transfer contenders to rebuild Cardiff City's midfield
By Tom Prosser

The engine room will need extensive work this summer and will a priority for the Bluebirds


Following Cardiff City’s relegation to the Championship, one area of the squad that will need bolstering over the summer will be their central midfield options.

With Harry Arter and Victor Camarasa only being on loan and Aron Gunnarsson joining Al-Arabi in Qatar, it leaves the Bluebirds short of bodies in this position.

It leaves Neil Warnock with only Joe Ralls and Leandro Bacuna as Cardiff’s out-and-out central midfield options, although Callum Paterson can play in attacking position.


Here are some realistic targets Cardiff could look at to get more strength in depth in this area...


Will Vaulks

Will Vaulks in action against Swansea City earlier this season (Image: Gareth Everett/Huw Evans Agency)
The Rotherham midfielder has been a consistent performer since joining The Millers from Scottish side Falkirk in 2016.

He has a good range of passing, which brings him a lot of assists, but he also knows where the back of the net is, scoring eight times in all competitions this season.

Vaulks is a similar type of player to Gunnarsson; not only does he have a long throw which has been productive for Rotherham but he is also not afraid to get stuck in making some crucial tackles. He is strong in the air, too.

Wales boss Ryan Giggs handed him his international debut for Wales in March when he played the full 90 minutes in the friendly against Trinidad & Tobago, assisting Ben Woodburn's winning goal.

He is going into the final year of his contract and following Rotherham’s relegation to League One, he is not going to be short of admirers.

At the age of 25, he has a fair bit of experience but he still has his best years ahead of him so would be a shrewd piece of business for the Bluebirds.


Harrison Reed

The Southampton midfielder spent the campaign on loan at Blackburn and has impressed, picking up their newcomer of the year award.

Reed played 36 times for Rovers this term, scoring three goals. He previously had a loan spell at Norwich, where he was once again a regular, gaining valuable Championship experience.

The 24-year-old made his Southampton debut at the age of 18 and has since gone on to make 30 appearances for the Saints but has struggled to establish himself in the first team set-up despite being highly rated by Southampton fans and being a former England Under-20 international.

He is the type of player who covers a lot of ground and has a good work ethic. He would be a decent replacement for Arter in that respect.

After two successive loan spells, Reed will now be wanting to settle down, so Cardiff could be a good fit.


Liam Kelly

This time last year, the Reading midfielder was much talked about and was a regular in the side under Paul Clement scoring five goals.

Since Paul Clement’s sacking in December, Kelly has not been in the new manager's plans and has not played since the middle of February.

He is the type of player Warnock would relish working with - if there is one man to bring him back to his form of last season it is the former Sheffield United boss.

Kelly’s main strengths include his ability to keep busy by always looking to receive the ball and create something with it.

The 23-year-old is entering the final year of his contract and is not thought to be in the Royals' plans so could be a decent move for both parties.

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I thought Vaulks was good when he played for Wales against T&T. I’d be happy with him, I can’t imagine that we’d have to spend an entire transfer kitty on him either

I thought Vaulks was good when he played for Wales against T&T. I’d be happy with him, I can’t imagine that we’d have to spend an entire transfer kitty on him either

Will Vaulks and Alex Mowett both brilliant players that we will be looking for, Vaulks just being relegated to league and Mowett just been promoted back to championship with Barnsley, more likely to get Vaulks but both players we will be looking at

Vaulks for me too. Anyone who can score 8 for a poor championship side that got relegated will do better with a good championship side going for promotion. That said I thought Tomlin was a good signing.

We need the best three midfielders and one striker who are prepared to play in the Chamionship .
If we make that investment and don't start complacently we can win it outright

We need the best three midfielders and one striker who are prepared to play in the Chamionship .
If we make that investment and don't start complacently we can win it outright

Can't disagree with that; although maybe two 'potent' strikers would be required?

Vaulks would be a good signing and depending on what happens with Ken Z, Maupay would be a good signing....hits the net on a regular basis at championship level .

With the money we will be receiving i hope we sort sala issue and spent a bit to kick start our season in the championship plus scout the foriegn loan market europe africa south america etc ,just like norwich have done this season without spending a fortune, the only position i would push the boat out for would be a couple of strikers not just one, and loan or buy 3 midfielders.please don't lets leave it till the last minute this time around, sort it early identify, loan, buy.

We need the best three midfielders and one striker who are prepared to play in the Chamionship .
If we make that investment and don't start complacently we can win it outright

Can't disagree with that; although maybe two 'potent' strikers would be required?

Not arguing with two strikers , but not if we're thinking of playing them both at the same time. I know it's not exciting and we all now know it's not good enough in the premiership , but Warnockball smashes it in the championship so I think we've got to stick to it this season.

I'm strangely optimistic about the clubs future because after decades of taking low level football as normal, we've been up there twice on the last few seasons and as long as we don't all just go down to the pub and forget it there's every reason to think that we're knocking on the door of a sustained spell at the top level .

With the money we will be receiving i hope we sort sala issue and spent a bit to kick start our season in the championship plus scout the foriegn loan market europe africa south america etc ,just like norwich have done this season without spending a fortune, the only position i would push the boat out for would be a couple of strikers not just one, and loan or buy 3 midfielders.please don't lets leave it till the last minute this time around, sort it early identify, loan, buy.

Exactly get business done early doors as possible

PEMBROKE BLUEBIRD

Glad you agree with me about getting sorted early it was so frustrating in the jan window and previous we started off ok signing reid and murphy then dithered and ended up with bacuna who was hardly going to take the prem by storm, i just hope we can find a few camarrasa's out there rather than just looking at the uk market, the striker for norwich on loan from a scandanavia country has got them promoted no question about it, we really need to find some gems and get them bedded in early with a chance to gel together and hoefully we will not be playing bodmin town or whoever in cornwall,we organised a game with real betis and camarrasa was loaned to us.