"Really underwhelming" - Cardiff City urged to avoid potential Millwall transfer agreement | OneFootball

The Bluebirds have been warned against striking a deal for Millwall's Tom Bradshaw this summer

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Cardiff City will have progressive designs of installing themselves in the 2024/25 Championship play-off reckoning, but such ambitions will rest upon how they address their goalscoring woes across the off-season.

Last term's 12th-placed finish in Erol Bulut's debut campaign is representative of steady, upward growth after spending the previous two seasons scrambling for second-tier survival. However, the Turkish boss remains under no illusion of the requisite improvement needed if Cardiff are to ascend higher up the league standings next year, and he'll undoubtedly be vying to address the Bluebirds' perennial problems infront of goal.

The underlying numbers provoke more concern than the 2023/24 league table does at face value and Cardiff managed a paltry return of just 25 goals from open play, while critics will argue that an overall xG return of 44.3 - the third-lowest in the division and a figure in debt to the 53 goals that were scored - is eerily indicative of over-performance that could prove their eventual undoing without remedy.

They're yet to heal their wounds from Kieffer Moore's departure to Bournemouth more than two years ago either, with the towering Welsh forward not only reportedly on their transfer shortlist once again this summer but also the most recent player to reach double-digits in a league campaign and the first to have hit 20 since the late, great Peter Whittingham in 2009/10.

Another target, albeit a less well-received one, is Millwall striker Tom Bradshaw, who looks set to depart The Den this summer.

Millwall's Tom Bradshaw would be an underwhelming signing for Cardiff City

Although Bradshaw does possess unquestionable second-tier know-how after being a real mainstay with Millwall for a number of years, the potential transfer has been met with skepticism from our resident Bluebirds fan pundit Ben Johnsey.

"I think Tom Bradshaw would identify a really underwhelming signing, and a signing that Cardiff probably would've made two or three years ago," Ben told Football League World.

"We saw that in the likes of James Collins from Luton, where you have hope the club have moved from that type of signing and transfer strategy going forward, trying to sign more players that are 'here and now' rather than having had good seasons a couple of years ago.

"I think Bradshaw is a good striker, but at 31 I don't think he represents the striker that the club are looking for to probably finish in the top-six or there or thereabouts."

Cardiff City should prioritise youth over signing Millwall's Tom Bradshaw

Incorporating young homegrown talent into the side of Wales' capital city is a proposition firmly on the agenda of Cardiff owner Vincent Tan - and one that can reap rewards for the Welsh national team in years to come, too.

Cardiff have exactly that in the form of Isaak Davies, who has previously made an impression on first-team proceedings and starred on loan with sister club Kortrijk in the Belgian top-flight last term by scoring 12 goals despite their eventual relegation.

Davies' dynamic, front-footed pressing out of possession enables Cardiff to set the tempo of their attacks and, as we've seen the past, forces opposing defenders and goalkeepers to simply clear the ball out of harm's way, which City can then recollect in the middle of the park. He can be a real asset if used correctly, and his immediate and long-term impact likely usurps the influence that Bradshaw would be able to have at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Cardiff are in the market for striking reinforcements in the coming weeks and an exciting domestic or overseas capture - or a Premier League loan even, an avenue they've enjoyed much success in - could slightly change the narrative with Davies, but it would be a real blow for the supporters in particular if a player evidently on the decline and set to turn 32 this month stands in the Welshman's way.