Keeping Kieffer must

AS the fifth goal flew in up at Hillsborough on Monday, it all but consigned Cardiff City to another season of Championship football.

With that defeat by Sheffield Wednesday came a little more clarity for Mick McCarthy as he heads into the summer transfer window.

Given there were faint embers of promotion hope still burning as City headed up to Yorkshire earlier this week, much of their transfer plans still hinged on which tier they would be playing in next term.

Now, with the fat lady warming up to sing, it is almost certain Cardiff will be a Championship team next term.

So, with that in mind, a number of transfer priorities have been shifted and plans can be made accordingly, so we take a look at a few...

Keep Kieffer

The most pressing situation of all is the need to fend off any advances for star striker Kieffer Moore.

Given the stunning season Ivan Toney has had this season, Moore’s exploits with the Bluebirds so far appear to have slipped under the radar.

Teemu Pukki will of course be back in the Premier League with Norwich next term, while Toney’s Brentford will be looking to follow them, likely through the play-offs.

The next rung of goalscorers then are Lucas Joao at Reading, Adam Armstrong at Blackburn and Moore at Cardiff.

There is a school of thought that Moore, who has 16 goals for his club this season, will suit a team who play only a certain way, but he has shown for Wales, who are a great footballing side to watch, that is not the case.

The Wales international could quite comfortably slot into most squads in the bottom half of the Premier League and provide a different option.

With the financial landscape having been ploughed down by the coronavirus pandemic, this summer we might see top-flight clubs dip into the Championship more than previous years and Moore will represent an interesting prospect for some.

But he has been a kingpin for City this season. He has dragged them through more than a handful of games and picked up points almost single-handedly, despite going off the boil a tad of late.

The pull of coming to Cardiff was enough to stave off other suitors in the Championship last summer, but keeping the riches of the Premier League at bay, if the clubs do come calling, is an absolute must if City are to build next season.

Add a striker

It is no secret that Cardiff are now looking to add to their striker options ahead of next term.

Now that there is more clarity over which league they will be playing in next season, they can perhaps narrow the search.

Robert Glatzel will return from Mainz this summer, although we have heard little from McCarthy to persuade us he will feature heavily for City moving forward, while what the future holds for Isaac Vassell is anyone’s guess at the minute, following McCarthy’s recent comments on him.

But as things stand, Max Watters and Mark Harris have not been afforded too much game-time, for whatever reason, and McCarthy will likely go for someone in the mould of what suits his game plan.

We have seen City recently linked with Accrington Stanley striker Dion Charles and also Rotherham forward Joshua Kayode.

Cardiff need more goals from elsewhere in the pitch. It cannot simply be the job of Moore and the centre-backs, the load must be shared.

If recent reports are anything to believed, McCarthy is doing all he can to address that.

There is a lack of Football League experience in terms of strikers at Cardiff City and perhaps, now they know they are in the Championship for another season, someone with the knowhow of the division would be a sensible addition.

The loanee situation

We have come to a situation now whereby decisions can be made about City’s loan stars.

The three current loan players, Liverpool duo Harry Wilson and Sheyi Ojo as well as Arsenal’s Jordi Osei-Tutu, have all impressed fans at certain points of the season, with calls for all three to be made permanent moves at one stage or another.

Wilson, you feel, was only an option if Cardiff did achieve promotion. That looks extremely unlikely now and consequently his return to Liverpool, before a likely sale to a Premier League club, looks nailed on.

Osei-Tutu was a player Bluebirds fans adored at the start of the season and with good reason. He was bright, quick and lively in attack and very astute in defence.

The trouble is the addition of Perry Ng in January has proved a masterstroke and he is now the best right-back at the club. Tom Sang, too, has emerged as a more than capable option and will provide real competition for the shirt.

No matter how good of a player Osei-Tutu is, the truth of the matter is that now City will ply their trade in the Championship next term, they probably do not need him and money can be spent elsewhere this summer.

And, lastly, there is Ojo, the one who probably divides the most. There was a time at the start of the season when Cardiff fans were desperate to make him a permanent signing next term.

Indeed, he even had a brief spell under McCarthy in which he looked really dangerous. But his star has just waned slightly and he has failed to make an impact in the brief opportunities he has had.

Given Liverpool are likely to command a sizeable fee for him, the chances of him returning on a permanent basis appear to be fading by the week now.

Address the lack of creativity Cardiff’s lack of creativity in the middle of the pitch is something which has needed to be addressed for some time now.

While Will Vaulks, Marlon Pack and Joe Ralls are all more than competent at this level, they are perhaps too similar in how they play. They are workers, organisers and scrappers, they leave everything out on the pitch, but they lack that real go-forward and ingenuity.

There is a dearth of creativity in the middle of the park and that is through