Cardiff City

Cardiff have yet to make a signing in January, but are offloading youngsters who they believe will benefit from regular football elsewhere.

Former Tottenham Hotspur player Malachi Fagan-Walcott has joined Scottish club Dunfermline on loan for the rest of the season.

The ex-England under-17 defender, who joined from Spurs in August, was an unused substitute in the 4-0 FA Cup third round exit at Sheffield Wednesday last Saturday. He has yet to make a league appearance for Cardiff.

Fagan-Walcott previously had a loan spell in Scotland in 2021 at then Scottish championship outfit Dundee.

Meanwhile Brithdir product Kieron Evans, a Wales under-20 player, is poised to join National League side Gateshead on loan.

Evans, 22, has made four cup appearances for Cardiff this term, but also has Championship experience.

Last term, Evans had a season long loan at Torquay United.

Rubin Colwill may be 21 by now - and turning 22 in April - but he's only just stopped growing.

Long after he'd started playing for Cardiff and Wales, the attacking midfielder struggled with injuries as a result of growth spurts.

Now having reached 6ft 3in and seemingly stopped growing, Colwill is fully fit and hopes to keep his place in the Cardiff team as they chase a Championship play-off place.

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The Gambia squad travelling to Ivory Coast for the upcoming 2023 Africa Cup of Nations "could have died" during a flight that was aborted, coach Tom Saintfiet claimed.

The Air Cote d'Ivoire flight turned around just minutes after leaving the Gambian capital Banjul on Wednesday.

Saintfiet believes there was a lack of oxygen, saying conditions prompted many of the delegation to fall asleep. The coach praised quick thinking by the pilot for keeping his team safe.

Officials from the airline confirmed there had been a pressurisation problem.

Cardiff midfielder Ebou Adams was one of the players on board.

“We know that he is OK and all the team is OK," said Bluebirds manager Erol Bulut.

"We could expect more from the Gambian national team to inform the clubs about their players. This we didn’t have.

“But we know everything is OK.”

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You may have noticed that Erol Bulut has been speaking to the media today, and he had plenty to say.

As well as talking about his own future and Cardiff's transfer plans, Bulut had some bad news on the injury front.

Midfielder-turned-left-back Callum O'Dowda has suffered a setback in his recovery from groin surgery and is facing another six weeks out.

“He was starting with us and then he got a small injury," said Bulut.

"Because of the injury he had, that can happen. It happened to him. Now it looks like six weeks (from today) until he’s back playing. We are not lucky with this.”

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Manager Erol Bulut says Cardiff City are "close" to completing their first two signings of the January transfer window.

The Bluebirds are particularly keen on signing a striker and are interested in recruiting Fenerbahce's Turkey international Umut Nayir as well as bringing Bournemouth and Wales front man Kieffer Moore back to Cardiff City Stadium.

"We are close to two players, yes, but we haven't finalised anything," said Bulut.

"It can be quick, tomorrow, but it can also be next week that it is finished.

"Many players are on our target. It doesn’t say only we are looking for those players."

On Nayir, Bulut added: "It is not only him. We have a few players, strikers, on our target. We cannot focus on only one player. If we don't get it then we don't have another option.

"Umut Nayir is one of those players we are interested in, like Kieffer Moore, like how we said at the start of the season.

"We want him [Moore], but two or three clubs are interested in him. It's also a point from his club that they need to buy a striker. It takes time for them to let him go. And I lose time because of this.

"So I need options. I have these options, Umut Nayir and one or two other players where I can immediately take one of them. If not then I have nothing."

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Striker Ike Ugbo has cut short his loan spell at Cardiff City and is set to join Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

Ugbo, 25, scored four goals in 22 appearances – 11 of which were starts – after joining the Bluebirds on a season-long loan from French club Troyes.

But Ugbo has not been able to hold down a regular starting spot and, with Cardiff boss Erol Bulut chasing other forwards this month, the former Chelsea youngster has departed.

Cardiff are keen on Wales striker Kieffer Moore and Turkey international Mehmet Umut Nayir.

Erol Bulut is back from illness to take charge at Cardiff City.

Bulut has been laid low by a virus and missed Saturday’s 4-0 FA Cup exit at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday.

His assistant Nikolaos Karydas took charge for the third round tie at Hillsborough.

Bulut has returned to the Cardiff training base to prepare for Saturday’s Championship home game with Leeds United.

The former Fenerbahce manager made his comeback on Tuesday as the players reported back for training.

Despite experience in a stand-in role and a jovial manner in the press conference ahead of the game, Karydas will no doubt be relieved.

He predicted Bulut would be fit for Cardiff’s return to Championship action.

Karydas joked at the end of the Sheffield Wednesday game: “It was not the first time I have been a caretaker manager.

“But I wanted to call Erol and tell him ‘come back soon please’ I prefer to be a good assistant than to be a manager.”

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South Wales derby hero Ollie Tanner could be in line for a change of role at Cardiff City.

The winger, who scored a memorable goal in the 2-0 Championship victory over Swansea City, in September, played as a left sided defender in Saturday’s 4-0 FA Cup defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.

His inclusion in the defence was one of six changes for the tie, but also a deliberate decision by manager Erol Bulut to see how the former Lewes man would cope.

Bulut was absent for the game because of illness, with assistant Nicolaos Karydas at the helm for the occasion.

Karydas said: “Erol wanted for the last month or may be more to start to prepare Ollie as a full back. Many times in training he has played as a full back.

“(This) was a good chance to see if we gave give a breather to Jamilu Collins or if Callum O’Dowda does not come back soon. He showed he is a good choice for us as a good solution for this position, he played well.”

Cardiff have relied mainly on Nigerian international Collins in the left back berth this season, especially in the absence of Callum O’Dowda, who has been sidelined since August with an injury which needed surgery.

O’Dowda, who was particularly impressive last term, is expected back in the next few weeks.

Joel Bagan, a specialist left back with Championship experience, is currently on loan at Belgian Pro-League outfit Zulte Waragem.

Bulut has already said he is keen for more of Cardiff’s youngsters to go out on loan.

But clearly Bulut sees the potential in the position for 21-year-old Tanner, who signed a new contract in October, keeping him at the club until 2027.

Tanner has yet to add to his spectacular goal as a substitute against Swansea. But given Cardiff’s dreadful recent derby record, it elevated him to hero status among the Cardiff faithful.

“Everywhere I go I always get asked about it but its nice," he said. "It is a good memory to have and something good to talk about. But I need to make another memory now, it cannot just be all about that.”

Cardiff City are being linked with a whole host of players now the transfer window has re-opened and that can come as little surprise.

Boss Erol Bulut has been abundantly clear for two months that he wants reinforcements in this transfer window.

After a transfer embargo on paying fees for players that applied last January and in the summer, Cardiff are expected to be looking for new recruits.

Bulut first told BBC Sport Wales on 2 November that he wanted "three or four" signings this month, adding a week later that he expected the club to back his vision.

Later in November, Bulut also identified one of his key targets, Bournemouth striker Kieffer Moore.

Last month Bulut reiterated that he has been promised financial backing from club owner Vincent Tan.

"I think our owner Vincent Tan knows from our chairman (Mehmet Dalman) what we have to do, because I had talks with our chairman," Bulut said.

"These are only good things for Cardiff City. I am asking for players [who can help] push a little bit more, or stay in the level we are in right now."

So it seems pretty clear Cardiff are going to be making moves, with a striker still their priority.

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As Wales mourns the loss of rugby icon JPR Williams, football is also coming to terms with the death of the great Franz Beckenbauer.

A World Cup winner as both a player and manager, 'Der Kaiser' was one of the most important figures in both the German and the global game.

His list of achievements is too long to mention fully, but Wales can lay claim to be the home of at least one of the milestones in his glittering career.

Beckenbauer's only playing appearance against Wales came in October 1976, in a match held in Cardiff to celebrate the Football Association of Wales' centenary. It was the captain's 101st appearance for the then world champions West Germany - and also the scene of his final goal for his country.

Yet it was his aura and elegance, not to mention his ability, that Wales and Swansea City legend Alan Curtis remembers most from that game, describing him as the best he's ever encountered.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales' Drive programme, Curtis, who also played for Cardiff City, recalled: "They beat us 2-0 and I was playing up front by myself, as a lone striker.

"I played against three centre-halves in that game. Franz Beckenbauer was the sweeper - and he honestly strolled through the game. If you tried to close him down, he would play the ball first time; if you laid off him, he would take a touch, run with the ball, and come through with it.

“Honestly, I think he could’ve taken his kit off at the end of the game and just put his clothes back on, he wouldn’t have needed to shower. He was super cool, super composed and just a fabulous player.

“I do these question-and-answer sessions quite a lot and I regularly get the question, who’s the best player you ever played against? It’s Franz Beckenbauer, it always looked that it was just a kick about with the boys on a Saturday. He was genuinely a world class and fabulous player.

"If you gave him a little bit of time, he would just glide past players. When I played him he was coming to the end of his international career so what a player he must’ve been in his prime. Everything he did was so effortless, he didn’t give the ball away and everything he did had class stamped all over it.”

Beckenbauer only played a further two matches for West Germany, returning to manage Die Mannschaf, including two matches against Wales (a 0-0 draw in Cardiff and a 2-1 win in Cologne) as they qualified for their triumphant 1990 World Cup in Italy.

Jonathan Panzo missed Cardiff City’s FA Cup clash with Sheffield Wednesday due to an agreement with parent club Nottingham Forest.

Panzo joined Cardiff on loan last summer for the duration of the 2023-24 season but is yet to start for the Bluebirds in the Championship, featuring just five times in all competitions.

He was left out of the matchday squad for Cardiff’s 4-0 third round thrashing by the Owls at Hillsborough last Saturday.

Speaking after the defeat by Danny Rohl’s side, Cardiff assistant coach Nikolaos Karydas said of Panzo’s absence: “I think it’s part of an agreement with Nottingham Forest, but I don’t know any other details.”

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Do Cardiff need to sign a new striker in the January transfer window?

Former Wales front man Iwan Roberts certainly thinks so, after the Bluebirds missed two penalties as they were thumped 4-0 by Sheffield Wednesday in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday.

Ryan Wintle and Callum Robinson both had spot-kicks saved by Owls goalkeeper Cameron Dawson as Cardiff were dumped out of the competition in miserable fashion.

“It would be nice if someone could put the ball into the back of the net from a penalty,” Roberts told BBC Radio Cymru's Dros Frecwast.

“Ryan Wintle missing after four minutes, Callum Robinson missing after seven minutes.

“If I was a Cardiff supporter, I wouldn’t want to see Callum Robinson anywhere near a penalty.

“I think that’s the fourth he’s now missed.

“They had enough efforts on goal, they had more shots than Sheffield Wednesday but they need a striker.”

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Erol Bulut is expected to return to the dugout for Cardiff City’s Championship clash with Leeds United.

Bluebirds boss Bulut was absent for his side’s 4-0 FA Cup third round loss to Sheffield Wednesday due to illness.

But assistant coach Nikolaos Karydas – who took charge of Cardiff at Hillsborough – says Bulut should be on the sidelines when the Bluebirds welcome Leeds to the Welsh capital on Saturday.

“I can inform you that’s he’s (Bulut) healthy,” said Karydas.

“I believe that he will be back soon.

“I’m sure that against Leeds he will be on the bench.”

Cardiff are currently ninth in the league and sit three points adrift of the play-off places.

Leeds are seven points off the automatic promotion spots in fourth.