£1.7m Cardiff City transfer never made sense - He's now set for exit in Vincent Tan head-scratcher | OneFootball

The signing of Roko Simic at Cardiff City hasn't gone to plan...

Following a 12th-placed finish under Erol Bulut in the 2023/24 Championship campaign, Cardiff subsequently undertook a mismatched transfer window last summer in which very few deals have thus far played out to great success.

The signing of Alex Robertson, which could eventually see Cardiff pay Manchester City up to £3 million dependent on various add-on criteria being met, has proved to be an inspired one. Much is also hoped of Will Fish, who endured a mixed debut season after joining from Manchester United but, at the age of 22, has plenty of long-term potential.

Meanwhile, Callum Chambers was one of Cardiff's more solid performers - as would be expected from an ex-Arsenal, Aston Villa and one-cap England international who had never previously played below the Premier League, in fairness - after being moved into a defensive midfield role back in December.

However, similar sentiments are not available for the other five signings made by Bulut in last summer's window, which have all, for one reason or another, flattered to deceive. Mark McGuinness' replacement, Jesper Daland, is yet to really hit the heights after completing a reported £3.5 million switch from Cercle Brugge, former Aston Villa winger Anwar El Ghazi never got going and will be leaving at the conclusion of his one-year contract, while the best very much waits to be seen from Chris Willock and the less said about Wilfried Kanga's loan spell the better.

The arrival of Roko Simic, though, represented something of a head-scratcher at the time and now, some nine months on, only more questions are being asked as the Croatian striker plots a move away from the club.

Roko Simic has not been a good signing for Cardiff City

Acquired in an initial £1.7 million deal from Red Bull Salzburg with days remaining of the previous summer's window as a 'club signing', Simic was immediately loaned out to sister club KV Kortrijk, then of the Belgian Pro League.

The intention was for Simic, who had scored six goals throughout the 2023/24 term for the 17-time Austrian top-flight winners including one in a UEFA Champions League tie with Benfica, to gain consistent minutes and goalscoring confidence over a full year out in Belgium before returning to lead the line at Cardiff come August 2025.

But the move perhaps could not have gone any less according to plan. The 17-cap former Croatia under-21 international only mustered 143 goalless minutes of Belgian top-flight league action as both injuries and a clear lack of faith from Kortrijk - where Isaak Davies had excelled the season before, of course - prevented him from making the desired impact before being recalled by Cardiff upon the turn of the year

Simic returned to South Wales looking to force his way into Omer Riza's plans, but Bulut's successor also decided to overlook the Croatian.

He was named in just three league matchday squads by Riza, who was never interested in Simic and insisted that the forward was some way off earning a starting spot, despite showing encouraging goalscoring form with Cardiff's under-21 side.

Aaron Ramsey, meanwhile, was similarly unwilling to field any opportunities for Simic.

More understandably so, of course, given that two of his three matches in charge on an interim basis were relegation six-pointer encounters, but Simic still failed to make it off the bench in Cardiff's final day 4-2 defeat at Norwich City, by which stage their return to League One for the first time in more than 20 years was already sealed.

The 21-year-old, as you would also expect, tends to divide opinion among supporters. Some never really brought into the hype with the signing, while others are keen to see Simic afforded opportunities at Cardiff as he still awaits his first-team debut nearly a year on from his arrival.

Either way, the majority of Cardiff fans genuinely sympathise with Simic, who was brought over to a new country at a young age but has not received any show of faith, and his more ardent backers wondered whether a chance would be presented by newly-appointed head coach Brian Barry-Murphy.

That, however, also does not look like it's going to transpire.

Roko Simic closing in on Cardiff City exit - It's been a disastrous move for all involved

Any hopes of Simic threatening to make a long-awaited breakthrough under Barry-Murphy were dashed earlier this week by a report from WalesOnline, which revealed the player's own stance on sticking around with the Bluebirds as a move away looms on the horizon.

As per the update, Simic did not report back to pre-season training and is instead out in Zagreb trying to negotiate a departure from the Welsh side, which is said to be a likely outcome.

Croatian top-flight side NJ Osijek are one of a number of European clubs reportedly interested in Simic, who has not been ruled out of a permanent exit either.

Even if Simic does move out on a temporary basis again, though, it's still difficult to hedge your bets on this deal eventually coming to fruition for either player or club. Simic has now been unfancied by effectively four managers in under twelve months and is not close to threatening the pecking order at Cardiff anytime soon, in which he is behind the likes of Davies, Callum Robinson and, of course, 23-year-old star striker Yousef Salech.

The signing of Salech back in January, which may just turn out to represent Cardiff's very finest deal in many years, could well be interpreted as the club already accepting defeat with Simic.

Just two years his senior, Salech made a completely contrasting impact by scoring eight goals from his first 20 Championship appearances and, it is hoped, will supply the firepower needed to fire Cardiff back to the second-tier at the very first time of asking as the side's star man.