JUST IN; Chris Willock: The clear winners from Cardiff City’s summer transfer window so far.

Cardiff City’s 2024 summer transfer window is showing early signs of going down as a real success.

The Bluebirds need to conduct extensive squad surgery if they’re to realise their own ambitions of competing for Premier League football next term, with last season’s respectable 12th-placed finish representing a marked improvement on previous positions and solid developmental foundations to build from, while also papering over some notable cracks in Erol Bulut’s side.

Even rock-bottom outfit Rotherham United outscored Cardiff’s paltry return of 25 open-play goals, which reveals Bulut’s own shortage of attacking tactical acumen on occasion, the urgency of recruiting a reliable source of goals and supplementing greater creativity from midfield and out wide, with inventive service coming as a real premium despite City’s unrivaled efficiency from set-play situations.

Strides are already being taken to address the dearth of consistent, high-quality chance creation with the acquisition of Chris Willock, who arrived last week on a free transfer following his departure from Championship rivals QPR. While not as pressing an issue, Cardiff are also shoring up defensively by picking up Calum Chambers – again on a free transfer – with the versatile three-cap England international defender possessing outstanding pedigree by spending his entire career in the Premier League before moving to the Welsh capital.

Although Cardiff’s first capture of the window is undoubtedly a statement of intent that supporters had thought was beyond their means, Willock himself has done well to seal a switch to Wales.

Ebou Adams