Erol Bulut has already named four things he wants in January as Cardiff City pull out all the stops
By Glen WilluamsThe Bluebirds are hoping to make a number of moves in the new year to bolster the squad
The next transfer window opens in exactly one month and you get the increasing sense that Erol Bulut cannot wait.
The Turk has steered Cardiff City, who sit ninth after 18 games, to their best start to a Championship campaign since Neil Warnock's promotion-winning season in 2017/18. Finally, he has Bluebirds supporters excited again.
Crucially, though, this is the beginning of the project. Bulut brought in nine players in the summer and, by and large, they have improved the squad. The base quality of this squad is higher and that has been telling in the results. But they need more and Bulut wants more.
Any manager will tell you it takes time to mould a squad in their vision. Two or three windows, minimum. Bulut has only one under his belt so far and, having seen the results, the board and owner Vincent Tan will like what they have seen and will want to build in the new year.
Fans are rightly excited as they head into the winter window. And Bulut is playing it just right and, tonally, is getting it bang on when he speaks of the transfer window. Take what he said on Thursday as an example. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.
"
We have to put the level higher. Our level is already a level up, so some players will have a problem with that, and we need to go up another level.”
That is the sort of ambition and desire to drive standards in the right direction that really gets supporters to buy in. Particularly after years of money being pulled out of the club, it finally looks as though Bulut and the club are going for broke. If it doesn't come off this season, then it will give Cardiff a seriously good launchpad for the following campaign.
It's important City don't bungle the next window. After all the positive work in the summer, the winter should be used to top up the squad. With Aaron Ramsey and Callum O'Dowda coming back into the fold and four signings on the agenda, it could represent a real-terms six-player boost.
Bulut has confidence that Tan will help to bankroll his vision in January, too. "He has the same character as me, he does not like to lose! That is good. That's why he will give more attention and support us much more with that," he said of the Bluebirds owner.
"
It’s clear what we want and in which positions we want. Maybe this makes it easier for us, because we are focussing on a few positions. For those positions we have a few names. It's not easy to make transfers in January, everyone knows this. But we are focussed on a few names and I hope with the big support of Vincent we can get it done, those deals."
It's a strong Championship this season and if Cardiff are to keep pace with the big boys, they need to get those signings bang on. So, where will Bulut look to add? Well, he's already given supporters some big clues. Here are the positions he appears to be looking at and what he's said about them.
Centre-backCardiff have been fortunate enough to scrape through a third of the season with their two first-choice centre backs — Mark McGuinness and Dimitrios Goutas — remaining fit. They've also struck up a wonderful partnership there, too.
City signed Jonathan Panzo on loan from Nottingham Forest on deadline day in the summer, after Jack Simpson had been axed following him racially abusing team-mate Rohan Luthra, and he has taken a while to get up to speed. He comes with pedigree and played a sizeable role in Coventry City's play-off push last term, though, so there is hope he comes good.
But the Bluebirds look incredibly light in that position, though, and Bulut has admitted it is a position in which City don't have enough players at present.
“In that position, we don’t have enough players," Bulut said on Thursday. "We took Panzo so he had a few friendly matches but he wasn’t fit enough to use him. He’s getting better but still we have a small issue with the centre-back position. One player being unavailable means I have to make a few changes.”
StrikerGoals from strikers have been something of an issue. But that's hardly a new problem for Cardiff. It looks like Bulut has settled on three striker options, however none of them have particularly raced out of the traps.
Ike Ugbo actually did, but after scoring three times in his first four games, he has just one in his last 12. Kion Etete has two in 11 while Yakou Meite has one in 15.
The last prolific striker to don the shirt for a full season — Sory Kaba's prolific half-season notwithstanding — was Kieffer Moore. He netted 20 goals in the 2020/21 season and it drew the attention of other clubs. Having signed for Bournemouth, though, it's not quite worked out for the Wales striker. Bulut has made no secret of his desire to bring him back to the Welsh capital.
"
We tried at the start of the season to get him in," Bulut said last week when asked of Moore. "
We couldn’t fix it. Not only depending on us, he is a player of Bournemouth. We have to have discussions with them. I was expecting him to start (for Wales) against Turkey, but that was the decision of the national team coach.
"What will happen in January, we are working hard on it. Our chairman and Ken Choo. We have some players in our target. I hope we can finalise those three or four transfers.
"If we can get Kieffer, we would not leave him on the bench. We would use him. That’s why I want him!"
Attacking midfielderIn the same breath, Bulut let slip of another position in which he wants to strengthen.
While, of course, he wants Moore, Bulut added that he wants a player to support him, whether that be an attacking midfielder or a winger. Cardiff are well stocked in the No.10 position, with Ramsey, Callum Robinson and Rubin Colwill all likely to be vying for that shirt in the new year. But, as the manager said on Thursday, some players might have a problem with more quality being brought into the building.
Bulut said: "
Kieffer Moore, if it is possible to get him, he is not playing in his team, but in the national team he played well, like against Croatia, if this is possible we will have a quality, very good player up front.
"Also, around him, we will also try to do something and if we can finalise this I think we can keep our level high to be around (the play-offs)."[i/]
Trabzonspor's Anastasios Bakasetas has been heavily linked with a move to the Bluebirds. While Bulut is clearly a fan of the midfielder, having managed him at Alanyaspor, he cited money as a potential stumbling block.
"[i]He is a player I brought to Alanyaspor when I was there. We got to the cup final and got into the Europa League, with Siopis, at Alanya with me," Bulut said of the attacking midfielder.
"
Also when I was manager at Fenerbahce I wanted him there, but we couldn't make it happen, so he went to Trabzonspor. In Trabzonspor he won the cup and he is playing well.
"I think the amount he is earning in Trabzon, for our club, it's not possible to pay those wages. That's why this deal looks difficult for us. He is a great player and I know him very well. We have been a long time together, we pushed him to where he is right now and he knows this. I know what he can give to a team."
Left-backWith the Africa Cup of Nations on the horizon in January, Jamilu Collins could miss a big chunk of games in the new year.
O'Dowda's injury troubles have been a blow this term, while Bulut has already said he sees him more as a winger, anyway. Other left-backs Joel Bagan and Tom Davies are also out on loan. We have seen that moving Perry Ng, arguably City's best player this term, over to the left weakens the whole of the defence.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.