Ex-Cardiff City player has had a spectacular fall from grace - 10 years after £6m sale: View | OneFootball

Jordon Mutch was outstanding for Cardiff City in the 2013/14 Premier League campaign, but it all went downhill following a £6m switch to QPR...

Jordon Mutch was a rare beacon of light in an otherwise bleak inaugural 2013/14 Premier League campaign for Cardiff City - so his subsequent deterioration should provide a real shock.

The Bluebirds romped to a historic first-ever Premier League promotion after a series of failed attempts by lifting the Championship title in 2012/13, although the achievement was soured amid the club's controversial rebrand under Vincent Tan at the time.

Indeed, some of the most ardent City supporters had boycotted that season out of protest against the ownership regime and the following season, which should have been filled with excitement towards a voyage into the unknown lands of English football's top-flight, was a miserable one for the club.

They were promptly relegated without so much as a whimper, with big-name signings such as Wilfried Zaha and Peter Odemwingie failing to deliver and encapsulating the disappointment produced from that season.

However, Jordon Mutch was a much-welcomed spark of positivity all season long and duly earned the right to remain a Premier League player by joining QPR for a reported £6 million fee.

Jordon Mutch's 2013/14 season with Cardiff City in the Premier League

Mutch, who was just 21 years of age when the season commenced, caught the eye for Cardiff by scoring seven goals and making a further five assists from central midfield.

His stat-line for the season included a brace against Liverpool, a goal at Chelsea and several screamers to boot. His long-range efforts were something to behold that season, and he was one of a small handful of positives for supporters to unpick.

Few could complain when he managed to retain his status as a top-flight footballer by moving to QPR. That said, though, you do have to wonder just how much Cardiff could have collected in this day and age for a midfielder who had accumulated twelve direct goal involvements for a bottom-placed side - more than £6 million, that is for sure.

It is a shame, then, to see the speed of Mutch's decline after proving himself at Premier League level.

Ex-Cardiff City star Jordan Mutch's fall from grace after £6m QPR move

Mutch was among a clutch of ill-fated acquisitions made by QPR during a disastrous spending spree between 2011 and 2015, and it did not take long for the R's to move him on.

He joined Crystal Palace in January but proved to be an extremely underwhelming signing for the Eagles, failing to score or assist in any of his 31 Premier League appearances before heading across to Reading on loan during the second half of the 2016/17 season.

Mutch hardly picked himself up in the Championship and spent the best half of a year in exile back at Selhurst Park, finally sealing a second loan departure by moving across the Atlantic to sign with Vancouver Whitecaps.

It gets truly bizarre from here, though.

The midfielder went on to play in South Korea, Norway and Australia and briefly made a return to English shores with Crawley Town in 2022/23, making four appearances in League Two.

He now finds himself back down under, plying his trade with semi-professional Australian outfit Gold Coast Knights, who play in the National Premier League Queensland and are managed by ex-Celtic and Middlesbrough striker Scott McDonald.

Still only 32 years of age, Mutch's fall from grace is staggering.

Nobody would have dared to anticipate such a potential deterioration when he lit up the Cardiff City Stadium as a Premier League player, and one who had represented England all the way up to under-21 level.

He appeared destined to enjoy a glittering career. While the forging of any professional career has to be considered a success in its own right given the sheer, all-but-insurmountable odds stacked against any budding young footballer, it is hard to escape the feeling that it should have been so much sweeter for the Derby County academy graduate.