Cardiff City have been provided with Jaden Philogene MK2 by Leicester City | OneFootball

Cardiff City appear to have sourced a potential Jaden Philogene 2.0 in Leicester City loanee Will Alves

Cardiff City have made strong overall use of the Premier League loan market over the years.

Although there have naturally been some exceptions to the rule, the likes of Harry Wilson, Cody Drameh, Tommy Doyle, Nat Phillips, Ryan Giles, among others, have flourished in the Welsh capital, showing Cardiff's ability to identify and develop top-flight talent.

But perhaps no loanee has provided more sheer entertainment value than Jaden Philogene, who offered a premium source of X-Factor and excitement in an otherwise dismal 2022/23 campaign while on loan from Aston Villa.

Indeed, Philogene arguably established himself as one of, if not the single most talented player to turn out for the Bluebirds in many a year, and he has unsurprisingly proved difficult to replace.

Josh Bowler was tipped to fill Philogene's void when he arrived on loan from Nottingham Forest at the start of last season but largely failed to live up to the billing.

Players of Philogene's ilk do not come around every day, of course, but Cardiff may have just found a replacement for the now-Ipswich Town winger - even if it's just until the end of the current campaign.

Jaden Philogene's impact for Cardiff City on loan from Aston Villa

Philogene played a huge role in Cardiff's slender survival in the Championship under Sabri Lamouchi, who took the tricky forward to another level after his mid-season appointment.

He had been a bit-part figure during the first half of the season and struggled to make a consistent impact when the likes of Steve Morison and Mark Hudson were in charge. But Philogene grew to be the orchestrator-in-chief of Cardiff's attack, with precious few second-tier full-backs capable of preventing his tricky, skilful dribbling from wreaking havoc.

A genuine footballing maverick with a near-unshakeable sense of confidence and swagger, Philogene exhibited an otherworldly ability to bamboozle opponents in any way he wanted to, at almost any given time. The winger's breathtaking speed, dribbling and flair made him unstoppable at full throttle, and he was a complete joy to watch.

That was despite an extremely modest goal return of just five strikes across the Championship and FA Cup, though that tally in no way underlines the gravity of his influence with the Bluebirds.

Philogene, of course, went on to bump those numbers up in the Championship the season after with Hull City before returning to Aston Villa. He's now with Ipswich and remains fondly-remembered at City, who may now just have something of an MK2 on their hands.

Leicester City's Will Alves could be Cardiff City's Jaden Philogene MK2

Cardiff were in dire need of a winger with pace, skill and the ability to unlock defences in the January transfer window amid their ongoing bid for survival in the Championship. They eventually sourced just that in Leicester City's highly-rated prospect Will Alves, who had previously worked under current boss Omer Riza in the England youth set-up.

Given his profile and burgeoning reputation, Alves' arrival was hotly-anticipated and he is already making inroads to justifying the hype. Still aged just 19, Alves has only played for Leicester at first-team level on five occasions but has wasted no time in acclimating to the demands of Championship football.

He was superb on his first league start in the Severnside Derby draw at home to Bristol City and then produced a starring display in Cardiff's 1-1 draw away to Plymouth Argyle.

Like Philogene, Alves joined with limited experience but has been able to make the transition. He's also technically superb with bags of pace, trickery, confidence and swagger, but is more tactically astute and possesses stronger ball retention than Philogene did during the first-half of his loan spell.

Alves may not be quite as talented as Philogene - there is no shame in that, of course, but there are many natural parallels between the two and it looks as though the teenager could replicate a similar impact in the sense of providing top entertainment value and continually proving a threat by occupying full-backs, blitzing past them with his speed and direct dribbling and helping to get Cardiff higher up the pitch.

It's a shame that Cardiff will only have Alves until the end of the season, and the winger is likely going to be unleashed at Leicester in the Championship next term, but they can still enjoy his gifts until then.