COULD STAR DZEKO BE EDIN TO CITY?
WE EXAMINE THE LATEST STRIKER LINKS AS CARDIFF FANS PRAY FOR REINFORCEMENTS
IT’S not quite transfer silly season again, but the rumour linking Edin Dzeko to Cardiff City has certainly raised a few eyebrows.
With reports claiming the former Manchester City striker – seemingly on the verge of a switch to Chelsea 10 months ago – could move to either Cardiff, Southampton or Crystal Palace in January, it’s time to examine the Bluebirds’ upcoming striker search and what we can actually expect from them in the winter market.
Everyone knows Neil Warnock wants a striker to bolster his Premier League survival bid.
But why has the Dzeko rumour surfaced, could it actually happen and what will transpire at Cardiff City when the transfer window re-opens?
The Dzeko link
The idea of Cardiff swooping for a player like Dzeko is certainly appealing. He might be 31 but is twice a Premier League winner and has scored 50 goals in the English top flight.
But where has the story come from?
Some quotes from Roma striker Dzeko, coupled with his desire last January to force through a move to Chelsea, have resulted in this latest transfer link.
Cardiff, Southampton and Palace have all been somewhat goal-shy so far this season and all three will be tracking various forwards as we speak.
Dzeko’s agent may also be pushing his client’s name to a few Premier League clubs, such as the three mentioned, and word inevitably gets out to the media that there is a degree of interest.
However, based on Cardiff’s activity in the past two years since Warnock and Vincent Tan have been working together on transfers, a move for Dzeko appears highly unlikely for myriad reasons.
The Bosnian international is earning a reported EUR80,000 weekly wage and has a contract running at Roma until June 2020. That means a serious amount of cash in both salary and transfer fee would be needed for Cardiff to acquire his services.
The Bluebirds’ top earner at the moment is on around £40,000 per week plus bonuses.
Despite their desperate need for goals and someone of Dzeko’s nous and ability up front, it just wouldn’t make sense. It’s the same reason Cardiff weren’t in for the likes of Negredo or Troy Deeney in the summer.
And whether Palace or Saints could drum up the financial muscle needed to pull off such a transfer coup is doubtful in itself.
The calibre of strikers Cardiff will target
Warnock insists he will have funds to spend in January – though short term his more pressing concern is grinding out results until then to ensure Cardiff aren’t cut adrift.
A transfer kitty of around £10 million, maybe even £15 million should be available, with Warnock a shrewd negotiator – both with other clubs and with Tan, Mehmet Dalman and his board.
The Bluebirds already have their eye on four or five strikers, many of them currently playing in the Championship.
Their transfer team, led by Warnock and head of recruitment Glyn Chamberlain, will be sounding out matters like fees and wages around certain targets. It’s all part of the ongoing transfer process.
And the reality of Cardiff’s situation is that they will likely remain in the
Premier League’s relegation zone when the January window finally opens. So Championship strikers – or loans from bigger clubs – will be their kind of market.
Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez would be attractive targets in the eyes of supporters, so too Charlie Austin, Jermain Defoe and Ashley Barnes if Cardiff can prise away a Premier League striker.
It remains to be seen when it comes to individual names. But Cardiff’s net may be cast further afield, as it was in finding Victor Camarasa in the summer, to find value in European markets.
What else we can expect?
Warnock has also hinted he wants a defender and midfielder in January; although getting both, as well as a striker, would be beyond Cardiff’s wildest dreams.
In midfield they still look a little short of a genuine holding midfield player, the failure to re-sign Marko Grujic plus Aron Gunnarsson’s fitness problems and Joe Ralls’ recent suspension merely accentuating that shortcoming.
Camarasa and Harry Arter have plugged the gap higher up the pitch but that back four needs a quality enforcer for protection.
It hasn’t been a particularly solid start to the season for either of Cardiff’s centre-backs either, both Sol Bamba and Sean Morrison at times culpable for goals, so Warnock may identify a new man in the middle of defence.
What Cardiff cannot afford in January is a repeat of their summer dealings which, by anyone’s admission, saw them come away a striker light.
Warnock and the club’s hierarchy know that they were left behind by Wolves, Fulham and others when it came to spending.
Quite rightly they want to spend smart, not silly – hence why the Dzeko rumour is nothing more than that.
But if Warnock still has transfer regrets when January ends, his team will be fighting an uphill battle to survive in the Premier League.
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